


Arc Reverse

by Kyogre



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, F/M, NaNoWriMo, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-10
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-01-31 14:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 57,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12683376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyogre/pseuds/Kyogre
Summary: Canon divergence. When Rin tells him someone has been following her, Yugo gives her his Clear Wing. It’ll protect her even if he’s not there, he says.Instead, it sends her to another dimension.(AKA Rin ends up in Standard, and everything begins to spin out of control.)Season 1 complete! On hold, probably





	1. 1:1 That special thing

—————

 

**Notes:** Rin is 100% OC, I’m not even going to pretend to be ashamed. I was aiming for “Yugo with boobs” but who even knows. 

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 1: That special thing**

 

As children, Rin and Yugo had one thing in common — both of them had something. 

 

In the Commons slums, any possession was to be treasured, but it was also a danger. It pained a target on your back because what you treasured, another would certainly covet. 

 

Rin and Yugo each had a treasure. A single thing they fought tooth and nail to keep. No matter how bruised or bloodied they got, they wouldn’t let go of that one single treasure. Those were their earliest memories, curling tightly around that precious thing until the would-be thieves gave up and finally, finally went away. 

 

A bracelet. A card. 

 

A pretty, shiny thing. A symbol of power. Precious metal and stone that could be pawned. A rare card that was the currency of the black market. 

 

Sometimes it seemed like having that one thing meant having nothing else. ‘Come on, why are you keeping it to yourself?’ the other children at the orphanage would jeer. ‘Don’t be selfish, think of how much we could do for the facility with it,’ the adults would lecture. Rin and Yugo only clung tighter, never letting go, never letting it out of their sight. 

 

‘I won’t give it to anyone,’ they thought, bitter and resentful. This, alone, was theirs. 

 

Until they met. And then they gained a second precious thing — intangible but all the more special for it. Something they’d anything to protect, something warm and strong and gentle. A bond. Each other. 

 

They had never asked each other to give up their first treasure, and they had never weighed the two. But the choice was obvious without even thinking. Between Rin and a card, between Yugo and a bracelet... They’d give those childhood treasures in a heartbeat. 

 

~.~.~

 

Even knowing that in heart, Rin still stared at the card in her hand before turning her wide, shocked gaze up to Yugo. “Are... are you sure?” she wondered. “But this is...” 

 

“Of course!” Yugo shot back without a moment of uncertainty. “If somebody’s trying to mess with you, Clear Wing will protect you. This way, it’s like I’m always with you!” He puffed up proudly, drawing back his narrow shoulders and sticking out his thin chest. There was a smudge across his nose where he’d thumbed it, still thinking he gesture made him look cool. 

 

For a moment, the warmth that welled up in her heart was overwhelming, too much for Rin to express. Yugo yelped as she punched him the shoulder — wimp, it was just a love tap — but before he could cringe away, he found himself engulfed in a tight embrace. 

 

“Thank you,” Rin murmured, her words muffled as she pressed her face into his hair. “I’ll take good care of it, I promise. I’ll get it back to you by the Friendship Cup, okay?” 

 

His arms came up to hold her in return, the tightness of his grip giving away his own affection and concern. “It’s supposed to take good care of you,” he protested half-heartedly. Quietly, to himself, he added, “I’m counting on you, Clear Wing...” 

 

~.~.~

 

Growing up in the slums, Rin was no stranger to being followed or even attacked by strange men. She’d learned to defend herself early. She’d learned to run too. 

 

That was what she did now, running as fast as her feet could carry her. She shouldn’t have been afraid — of just one boy, shorter than she was and even more slight than Yugo. But she was. Something about the smile she’d glimpsed under the edge of his hood, about the tone of his voice and the way he’d advanced on her with the sure pace of a hunter... Rin had turned and run. 

 

She knew these back alleys. She’d raced through them, even hidden in them, more times than she could count while growing up. This was her home turf. 

 

...So why was it that she couldn’t shake him? No matter how fast she ran or what shortcut she took, she could always hear his steady footsteps behind her. Turning another corner, Rin chanced a glance back. For an instance, her eyes met that hungry, dark gaze, and a cold shudder went down her spine. 

 

Rin didn’t know what he wanted from her, but she didn’t want to find out. Putting on a burst of speed, she tried again to lose him. 

 

She was too focused on the pressure of his presence against her back, and lost track of where she was. It was a stupid, rookie mistake, one she should have known better than to make. But when she turned the next corner, it took Rin several steps into the dark alley before she realized she’d run into a dead end. 

 

Hesitating too long — another dumb mistake — she finally turned and tried to backtrack to the main street. But it was too later. The cloaked silhouette of the predator boy stepped into the mouth of the alley, his shadow stretching along the ground toward her. 

 

“Well,” he said slowly, relishing, “that was fun.” 

 

Rin wavered. Nowhere to back away to, no way to get past him. He was light on his feet, she could see, he would stop her if she tried to slip by. 

 

“I do so enjoy it when they struggle,” the boy went on. Even with his face in shadow, she could see the widening of his smile. “But now it’s time to go. The Professor is waiting.” 

 

‘...Like hell,’ Rin thought. 

 

She didn’t know who this professor was, but she wasn’t going to go along with it. She was going to get away from this creep. She was going back to Yugo. They would enter the Friendship Cup together, they’d leave the Commons and live out their dreams. She wasn’t going to disappear in some dark little alley. It wouldn’t end like this!

 

Her deck and duel disk were still in their pouch on her belt. Dueling would have meant standing still, and she hadn’t wanted to remain close to that unsettling boy. But in her deck, a card pulsed. It resonated — with its old comrade, with its young master’s wish, with her sharp, cleaving will. 

 

“Just get out of my way!” Rin shouted, charging at him. 

 

She leaned to one side, as if trying to duck past him. He was still smiling, of course, as he turned to intercept her... 

 

Correcting at the last moment, Rin crashed straight into him. Her knee drove into his gut with all the force and momentum she could muster. They toppled together in a flurry of limbs and muffled curses. The impact was jarring, knowing the breath out of Rin — and of her pursuer too. She scrambled over him, to her feet. This was her chance, if she could just make it past him—

 

A hand wrapped around her ankle, pulling her down. 

 

Rin screeched as she fell, and kicked frantically. “Get— off me!” she yelled. “Let go, you bastard!” 

 

He grunted, taking a heel to the head. Knocked askew, the hood of his cloak slipped and slid off. Reaching for Rin, he moved into the moonlight falling around the corner of the roof.

 

The sight of his face made Rin freeze, staring in shock. 

 

She knew that face. But it couldn’t be him. “Yu... go...” she breathed. 

 

No. It couldn’t be Yugo. He couldn’t be her Yugo, Yugo who had given her Clear Wing, who tried to be strong and clung tight to hide how much he wanted to cry. Yugo wouldn’t look at her with twisted amusement at the fury, fear and doubt in her expressions. 

 

“That was quite rough,” this boy who had stolen her friend’s face said, smirking despite the twinge of pain in his expression from her repeated hits. “I like it. What else can you show me?” 

 

Desperation gave her a burst of strength to rip free of his grip, but her feet tangled clumsily, her knees weak, and Rin fell. Her palms scraped against the hard ground, and there was a sharp pain in her mouth as she bit her tongue. 

 

‘Yugo,’ she thought desperately. She wanted him to be here. She was so scared— ‘Yugo! Yugo! Yugo!!’

 

Bright light flared. The importer reared back, bringing up a hand to shield his eyes. Rin, too, was blinded by white, but somewhere beyond the light, she could hear something — a dragon roaring. It was familiar... and comforting. 

 

Rin fell, down and down and down, into a void deeper than darkness. 

 

~.~.~ 


	2. 1:1 Strange places

—————

 

**Notes:** This takes place some time nebulously after the first six episodes, after the duels with Ishijima and Sawatari (and Sora), but before Yuto’s arrival. 

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 2: Strange places**

 

There was no sense of impact. Like the shadow of a cloud blotting out the moon and then letting it shine again, the impossibly deep darkness slipped away — leaving Rin staring up toward the night sky. 

 

Her mind had blanked, and for a moment, she simply lay there. The stars above shone gently far above, and the moon was a fat, bright gibbon. A deep breath, feeling the cool, damp air in her chest. The blades of grass tickling her cheek were damp too, and they smelled fresh, like the Tops park she and Yugo had snuck into once, before they had understood that getting caught would bar them from the Friendship Cup and their dreams...

 

Yugo. 

 

Rin sat up with a gasp, looking around frantically. 

 

But there was no one else around her — not Yugo, not the imposter, no one. The wide expanse of the park was completely empty. 

 

‘...Park?’ Rin thought. “Huuuuh?! Where the hell am I?!” 

 

There was no place like this in the Commons, at least not in Rin and Yugo’s district or any of the surrounding ones. Certainly, this was nowhere near where she’d been. What happened? Had she passed out and been carried off, by that, that—! 

 

‘No!’ Rin shook her head sharply. ‘That was... Clear Wing! I’m sure of it!’ 

 

A card somehow transporting her elsewhere sounded preposterous, no matter how rare and treasured the card. But Rin was sure of it in her heart. She had heard Clear Wing. She felt its power, the same as so, so many of Yugo’s duels. 

 

Clear Wing really had protected, just like Yugo said. 

 

“That’s great,” Rin muttered, climbing to her feet, “but where did the heck did it take me?” 

 

Planting her hands on her hips, she looked around dubiously. Curving wide paths, well-trimmed grassy lawns, rows of trees and bushes, benches and lampposts. Blocky buildings towering behind the trees, backlit by the glow of a city. The flash of headlights and the sound of a motor marked the passing of a car on a nearby road. Insects chirping somewhere in the bushes, a few months fluttering up to the lampposts. 

 

There were no Tops spires in the distance or pillar bridges between them, no overhead highways or Duel Lane towers. Only a single skyscraper reached upward over everything. 

 

LDS, the glowing letters at its top read. She had never heard the name before. 

 

“I don’t think I’m in the City anymore,” Rin admitted quietly. 

 

No one answered. 

 

~.~.~

 

Rather than wander around in the dark, Rin spent a miserable, uneasy night on one of the park benches. It was far from her first time sleeping without a roof over her head, but the situation and everything leading up to it left her only dozing fitfully. Every strange sound in the distance jerked her awake, and sometimes so did the silence, when she could swear she heard steady footsteps coming ever closer. 

 

By dawn, Rin gave up on sleep completely. Rolling her shoulders and neck to get rid of the cricks, she took a deep breath — and slapped both cheeks. 

 

“Aright!” she yelled. “Right, right, right! Let’s do this! First — getting home! Yugo’s probably crying by now, so I better step on it!” 

 

The still-shadowy streets were slowly beginning to fill with people. None of them so much as glanced at Rin, despite the way her pale riding suit stood out among their plain street clothes. Rin didn’t try to meet anyone’s gaze either. Keeping her gaze firmly ahead, she strode boldly — showing weakness was the quickest way to attract trouble. Act strong, she and Yugo had learned early, even if you’re weak or scared. 

 

She had set off toward the single great tower. It looked like the center of everything, to her City senses, the kind of place where you could find answers. 

 

There were more people in front of the ‘LDS’ tower — an entire crowd, arriving to start their day. To Rin’s surprise, many were children, her age, younger and also older.

 

‘Well, that’s convenient,’ she thought. 

 

It was easy to slip inside among the throngs of children and teenagers. They were chattering about courses and homework and teachers, but also about duels. Was this place a school of dueling? 

 

“—maybe I’m just not cut out for the Synchro course,” one of the boys moaned, making Rin’s ears twitch. 

 

“That’s what you said when you switched out of Fusion,” his friend snorted. “What are you going to do if you don’t like Xyz either?” 

 

The first boy waved his hand with a disgruntled expression. “I’ll just Ritual summon then!” 

 

Both of them laughed, like there was some joke there. Many duelists did see Ritual summoning as a joke, but hearing any card or dueling style mocked like that made Rin’s fists clenched. It took an effort of will not to deck them both across the head. She couldn’t afford to blow her cover, after all. 

 

‘But what’s Fusion supposed to be? And Xyz?’ she wondered. 

 

The answer to that question was on a poster that proudly laid out the school’s curriculum — an answer that just left her with more questions. “Huuuuuh?!” Rin burst out, staring at the poster in shock. “Fusion summon course? Xyz summon course? What the heck is up with that!” 

 

There was a sudden, clumsy silence around her. Rin’s shoulders twitched as she remembered where she was and what she was supposed to be doing. 

 

But instead of backing down, Rin doubled down. Spinning around, she swept a fearsome glare across the lobby. “What are you all looking at?!” she barked, making the students who had stopped to gawk jump and quickly scurry on their way. Even the adults — teachers — only shook their heads, frowning in disapproval. 

 

Staring at the curriculum list for a moment longer, Rin shook her head irritably. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter what kind of weirdo dueling they use here,” she decided. “I just need to worry about getting back to the City.” 

 

Schools had libraries, after all, and computers. She just needed to keep up the charade a little longer and look it up. 

 

~.~.~

 

Maiami City. 

 

Best known for being the location of Leo Corporation’s headquarters and main research facilities. Those facilities had produced dueling technology such as the Real Solid Vision systems, making Maiami the birthplace of Action Fields and the Action Duels utilizing them. 

 

Because of its close ties to dueling, Maiami City boasted a large number of preparatory duel schools, with the Leo Duel School (LDS) being top among them—

 

Groaning, Rin dropped her head onto the tabletop. It made a satisfying bang, and the sting at least brought her drifting attention back to the present. None of this was helping her at all. If anything, it just made her more confused. 

 

Rin might have been a Commons brat, but even she wouldn’t have missed something like these supposedly famous Action Duels, much less two entire summoning methods. 

 

‘Clear Wing,’ she thought again, ‘where the hell did you bring me?’

 

Even distracted in her brooding, Rin’s honed instincts made her tense as someone’s gaze focused on her. She turned, glaring back. 

 

The one staring at her was a boy she immediately pinned as a pampered rich brat. He flinched at her glare but quickly regained his composure, forcing on a smirk as he sauntered over. “Well, well, well... Snooping around LDS for an advantage? A lady such as yourself shouldn’t dirty her hands, Hiiragi.” 

 

Rin snorted. “Lady? Me?” she said. 

 

Immediately, she realized that was not exactly the most important point. He was clearly mistaking her for someone. 

 

“Anyway, I don’t know what you’re on about,” she added dismissively. “You’ve got me mixed up with someone. So just beat it.” 

 

The idiot had the gall to wag his finger at her, admonishing. “That kind of shameless denial won’t help you, Hiiragi,” he said. “I would never forget such a cute face. But it’s alright! I won’t tell. I understand you and your little school need every advantage you can get. I’m willing the same. I’ll go to any length to defeat Sakaki Yuya and get my revenge.” 

 

“I’m telling you,” Rin gritted out, “I’m not this Hiiragi chick.” 

 

Finally, even this fop seemed to be losing his patience. “I know it’s you, Hiiragi Yuzu!” he exclaimed, before catching himself and clearing his throat. “A change of clothes and hairstyle won’t fool my discerning eye. You should have at least taken off the bracelet, it’s very distinctive... oh. It’s different.” 

 

His realization came a second too late. Rin had frozen when he grabbed her hand to bare her precious bracelet, but only for a moment. Then, her real instinct kicked in—

 

And she planted her fist in his gut. 

 

~.~.~

 

“How dare you attack Sawatari!” 

 

“You’ll pay for this!” 

 

“You’ll be sorry for hurting the next mayor’s son!” 

 

A sharp growl from Rin cut off the chorus of complaints and vague threats from rich boy’s — Sawatari’s — pose, sending them cringing away. Unfortunately, Rin knew they’d be back at it shortly. The cycle of whining, threats, silence and whining had repeated itself several times already. 

 

The fact that she didn’t do more than growl wasn’t out of any self-restraint. It had more to do with the two older students seated on either side of her. They had also been the ones to drag her off Sawatari when he screamed bloody murder. 

 

What a pansy, she hadn’t even hit him that hard. 

 

Sawatari himself was still railing on behind the closed door of a teacher’s office. His voice was too muffled to make out the words, but it had sounded like he was crying at one point — pansy, seriously. 

 

Of course, at least part of her ire came from the acknowledgement that she really shouldn’t have done that. Getting the authorities down on her head was a stupid move, one that Rin should have known better than, especially when she was already trespassing. 

 

‘Yugo would have punched him too,’ she thought sullenly. It wasn’t particularly comforting. In fact, it just reminded her of how alone she was in this strange place. 

 

Hunching over, Rin curled in on herself. She wasn’t sure how long she sat like that, waiting with dread and exhaustion, until the office door slid open and a man emerged. He was a teacher, she had gathered, who had been the one to break up their scuffle. 

 

“Shingo tells me you hit him several times when he approached you in the computer room,” the man said. He must have been greatly abridging Sawatari’s account, given how long they had been in the office. “Is there anything you’d like to add? I want to hear your side as well, before we go any further.” 

 

“Professor Marco!” Sawatari protested, leaning over in his chair enough to glare out the doorway into the hall. “Are you saying you don’t trust the account I, Sawatari Shingo, gave you? My father—” 

 

“Yes, yes, of course I believe you,” Professor Marco hurried to assure him. 

 

That was only natural. Who’d believe some Commons girl over a rich Tops fop like that? And everyone kept mentioning his father... Rin had a feeling she might have gotten into some real trouble. Her lips thinning, she ducked her head and tried not to let her frustration show. 

 

“Hiiragi, I’ve contacted your father. He should be here shortly,” the professor went on. “We can discuss any repercussions once he gets here—” 

 

“What’s that supposed to mean? Of course there’ll be repercussions!” Sawatari butted in again. “She hit me! Like, at least three times!” 

 

‘I’ll hit you three more if you don’t shut up!’ Rin thought furiously, her fists clenching in her lap. 

 

“Yeah! Sawatari’s father won’t stand for this!” 

 

“You’ll be sorry!” 

 

“You and your shabby little school are going down!”

 

The pose started up again, and Professor Marco sighed, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “I would prefer if we could resolve this more peacefully,” he said, “without involving the chairwoman or LDS as a whole. It would troublesome for your father too, wouldn’t it, to be dragged into a little squabble? He must be quite busy with his campaign.” 

 

In other words, he was already sick of dealing with a petty argument between children, and he just wanted to sweep it under the rug, rather than dragging in his boss. 

 

Sawatari, however, didn’t take the hint. “But it does involve LDS! I bet she was snooping around to find out our weaknesses! She’s probably got a grudge about my duel with Sakaki Yuya!” 

 

“Didn’t you lose?” Rin snorted, remembering what he’d said before — that he wanted to take his revenge by any means. 

 

“Th, that was just...! I was just having an off day!” Sawatari flailed. “There’s no way an LDS elite like me would normally lose to a student from a third-rate school like You Show!” 

 

He smirked, as he’d somehow made a stunning recovery, while his pose crowed quietly in the background. Was Rin missing some inside joke, or was he just being stupid? But either way... she had an idea now. “Oh really?” she drawled, putting on her most provoking expression. “Then prove it. Duel me.” 

 

“Prove...?” Sawatari echoed. Understanding lit across his face. Puffing up, he chortled. “A duel? That’s perfect! When I will, I’ll make you apologize and admit that LDS is the best!” 

 

“And if I win, you’ll apologize for saying I hit you and admit you were lying,” Rin said. 

 

Riding high on visions of his assumed victory, it took him a moment to realize what she’d said and join his three stooges in spluttering in disbelief at her gall. The two older students who had pulled them apart were also giving Rin the same stupefied looks. Only Professor Marco seemed used to that sort of blatant twisting of facts. Raising his eyebrows mildly, he said, “Well, you’re duelists after all.” 

 

Good. So even here, might made right. As long as you were the winner, your will was law — just like in the City. Maybe this place wasn’t so strange. 

 

~.~.~


	3. 1:1 Your child’s face

**Notes:** Since Rin only duels once in canon, her deck has very little to choose from. I was told that her archetype in general is very small. But I’m too lazy to come up with a whole new deck, so... Sorry, Yugo. As the love interest, it's not like you need to duel anyway lol  


 

The canon situation regarding the counterparts is complicated, but for simplicity I’m going to say that Yuzu and Shuzo consider her to be adopted. There’s never any clear indication of him having a wife, so I’m not sure how he could have thought she was biologically his daughter. 

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 3: Your child’s face**

 

“I summon Level 3 Speedroid Tri-Eyed Dice!” Rin announced, slapping a card down onto the hard light monster zone of her deck. “And use to tune Level 4 Speedroid Menko!” 

 

“Tune?!” Sawatari gasped. He looked personally offended, even more than throughout the rest of their short duel. “Since when can you Synchro summon? Hiiragi!” 

 

Rin ignored him. There was something she, as a duelist, had to say. The words came easily, from hearing them countless times — from Yugo. His voice echoed in her memories, bold and sure as always. “Spread those wondrous and beautiful wings! Strike down our enemies at light speed! Synchro Summon! Come forth! Level 7! Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!”

 

Clear Wing roared as it soared onto the field. That sound too was familiar to Rin. Even though she had faced Clear Wing across the battlefield more often than not and it had faced defeat under its power not a few of those times, its cry brought a sense of comfort to Rin. 

 

Looking up at the great dragon, she thought, ‘At least you’re still with me, Clear Wing. I’ll get us back to Yugo, no matter what.’ 

 

“I activate Speedroid Razorang’s ability!” she declared, turning back to the duel. “I can change one monster to defense position and lower its attack points by 300. I choose Clear Wing Synchro Dragon.” 

 

“...Huh?” Sawatari stared in shock. He smirked. “Have you lost it, Hiiragi? That’s what you get for trying to get fancy and switch decks all of a sudden!” 

 

“Shut up, idiot!” Rin yelled back. “I know exactly how to use this deck!” 

 

He was right, of course. This wasn’t her deck. It was Yugo’s. Just adding Clear Wing to her own deck wouldn’t have worked too well, after all. Her deck just wasn’t built to support it, not like Yugo’s, so they had swapped decks completely. Certainly, they knew each other’s decks well enough to duel with them — as well as their own, almost. 

 

“Clear Wing’s monster effect activates!” Rin went on. “When a monster effect targets a Level 5 or higher monster, I can negate the effects, and destroy that monster and its attack points to Clear Wing.”

 

Speedroid Razorang had 2000 attack points. Added to Clear Wing’s, that made a total of 4500. 

 

“Now, attack Ultimate Dart Striker! Battle!” 

 

Cursing, Sawatari glanced around frantically in search of another Action Card that might save him. That trick had caught Rin off guard the first time, but she knew there weren’t any left close to them now. There was no way he’d make it to the nearest card. 

 

He still tried, but the backlash of Clear Wing’s attack and his Dart Striker’s destruction hit him before he had gone more than a few steps. It sent him spinning head over heels, until he came to a stop face down, ass in the air. 

 

The end of duel buzzer sounded, Rin’s headshot appearing between them to mark her victory. The glittering spires of the Action Field dissolved round them. 

 

Groaning and rubbing at his sore backside, Sawatari only managed to make it to his knees when she made her way over to stand in front of him. “So where’s my apology?” she said, smirking. Crossing her arms, she made a show of tapping her foot. 

 

“A-apology?! Hey! That, that was a fluke! There’s no way you could know Synchro! And that’s not even your deck!” he protested. “That doesn’t count!” 

 

“Tch!” Rin clicked her tongue irritably, scowling. She shouldn’t have expected anything else from a pampered Tops kid, but even so... “Don’t you have any pride as a duelist?” she barked. “You lost! So keep your end of the vager!” 

 

“I agree,” Professor Marco said, coming up behind them from where he had been observing on the sidelines. “Shingo, it’s unbecoming of an LDS duelist to make excuses like that.” 

 

Cowed, Sawatari ducked his head. “Yes, Professor,” he muttered. Shuffling his feet, he glared up at Rin from under his bangs. “I’m... s-s-sorry, Hiiragi.” 

 

“For lying and saying I attacked you,” Rin clarified, gesturing with one hand. “I didn’t do that.” 

 

“For lying and saying you attacked me,” Sawatari repeated resentfully. “You didn’t do that.” 

 

Rin nodded, satisfied. “Then I’m out of here,” she declared. 

 

“You don’t want to wait for your father? He’ll be any moment,” Professor Marco said, making her stop before she could head for the door. “To be honest, there’s a few things I’d like to ask both of you.” 

 

She should have known better than to think it would be that simple. 

 

“That Synchro summonings was beautifully executed, even as a Fusion specialist I can tell that. And your duel disk, I’ve never seen one like it. Of course, I’ve heard of Sakaki Yuya’s new Pendulum summoning as well...” He smiled, the sort of meaningful adult smile Rin hated. “You Show is certainly on the forefront of dueling. That’s the sort of school LDS would be interested in building closer ties with.”

 

“I don’t know anything about that,” Rin said and turned away pointedly. It wasn’t like she had any connection to this You Show, and she didn't want to be involved in deciding their fate. “So... ask about it later.” 

 

She hurried away before he could say anything else. 

 

The doors out of the dueling court was just up ahead. She only needed to make it there, and then she get out of this building without anyone stopping her. She just needed to make it...

 

In front of her, the doors slid open — but not because she had approached. There was a man standing on the other side of the doorway, who stopped and stared at her in surprise. 

 

“Yuzu?” he said. “What are you doing at LDS? Weren’t you training with Yuya and Sora?”  

 

~.~.~

 

Rather than try to explain yet again that, no, she wasn’t this Hiiragi girl, Rin had settled for just dragging him out of LDS. Convincing one man would be easier than a crowd, especially since Sawatari was bound to start up his whining again. 

 

“Yuzu, what’s wrong?” Hiiragi’s father asked as she pulled him into an alley for some privacy. “What’s going on? I was so surprised to get that call. And what happened to Yuya and Sora?” 

 

“I’m not Yuzu,” Rin cut him off before he could continue. “Those guys just wouldn’t believe me, so I didn’t say anything there. ...Sorry, I didn’t mean to pretend to be her or anything.” 

 

Just by his expression, he didn’t believe her either. His thick eyebrows furrowed in confusion and concern. “What are you saying? I think I’d my own daughter’s face, Yuzu, even if you change your hair.” 

 

Groaning, Rin ran a hand over her face. 

 

She paused when Hiiragi’s father made a noise of surprise. “Your  bracelet... it’s different,” he said, staring at the silver band that had been revealed when her sleeve slipped down. His gaze slid to her face, studying it with a new urgency and a growing worry. “But you never take it off.”

 

“Your Yuzu never takes it off,” Rin corrected. She never took hers off either... A girl with the same face and a special bracelet — just a coincidence, but something about it settled coldly in her stomach. 

 

His eyes still on her, the man fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a duel disk like the one Sawatari had used. Tapping something on the screen, he held it up to his ear. 

 

Rin could hear when the call connected. “Dad?” a tinny voice rang out from the other end. “What’s up?” 

 

“Yuzu,” he said, swallowing heavily, “where are you right now?” 

 

“By the river. We just finished our run, we’re heading back to You Show soon,” Yuzu replied, her puzzled tone carrying through even to Rin. “How come? Did we run late? I thought we were making pretty good time, even for Sora’s first try.” 

 

“No, no, you’re fine,” her father assured her. “Just... get back to You Show as soon as you can and wait for me. Okay?” 

 

He hung up quickly and, for another moment, simply watched Rin with the same worried gaze. “Listen... um,” he stared awkwardly. “Right, I’m Shuzo Hiiragi.” 

 

“Rin,” she replied. “Just Rin.” 

 

“Rin... your family, are they...” He trailed off again, wringing his hands. “What I mean to say is, your parents...” 

 

“I don’t have any,” Rin snapped. 

 

Expression trouble, Shuzo didn’t even respond to her sharp tone. His darted again between her face and the flash of silver on her wrist. Nodding to himself, he seemed to come to some decision and took a deep breath. “Rin, I think this might be fate!” he declared. 

 

“Huh?” 

 

“My daughter, Yuzu, she looks just like you! And she’s got a bracelet like yours! I don’t think that’s just coincidence,” Shuzo insisted. “My Yuzu, I found her. I always wondered if she had a family out there, and now I think... Rin, you might be... It’s got be fate that we crossed paths like this!” 

 

Rin stared at him in shock. “W-what?” she stammered. “Fate? Family...?” 

 

That wasn’t possible. Rin didn’t have a family. That had always been an indelible truth of her existence. It was just a coincidence. 

 

But what if. What if Clear Wing had brought her to this place for a reason? 

 

“Please, just come with me to You Show!” Shuzo begged. “So we can find out! Even if it’s just coincidence, we can’t let this chance pass us by!” 

 

She knew better, she really did — but even so, Rin found herself nodding. 

 

~.~.~

 

Hiiragi Yuzu stared at Rin, and Rin stared back. 

 

It was one thing to hear, even so repeatedly, that they had the same face. It was quite another to see it right in front of her, plain as day. Two thin crossed bands of silver glinted on the other girl’s wrist as she covered her mouth in surprise. 

 

Yuzu blinked rapidly, breaking their stalemate. “Dad...” she said uncertainly, glancing at Shuzo. “What’s going on?” 

 

“LDS mistook her for you and called me,” he explained quickly. Forcing a smile, he laughed awkwardly. “I was sure surprised when I saw her! But then I thought... You know how we never knew where you came from? You look so much alike! And look, even the bracelets match! So I asked her to come with me, and we can find for sure if...” 

 

“If we’re sisters...?” Yuzu said, putting it into words for the first time. 

 

She reached up to touch her bracelet, and Rin did the same. 

 

Skepticism warred with a childish hope. Was it possible...? Could that kind of fairy tale — separated at birth, a special trinket, a fateful meeting — really happen? To someone like her? 

 

“I... don’t know anything,” Rin blurted out, glaring sullenly to the side. “I grew up in an orphanage. I don’t have any family or anything of them.” 

 

“Except your bracelet, right? It’s the same for me, but Dad raised me,” Yuzu said. When she held out her hand, Rin gingerly let her examine the silver bracelet on her wrist. “It’s really so much alike. I can tell they’re the same.” 

 

Looking at Yuzu’s bracelet, Rin could feel it too. It wasn’t just that they had a similar style, something about them felt like two parts of a set. 

 

“Where did you grow up, Rin?” Shuzo asked. “Here in Maiami? Are you an LDS student?” 

 

“No, in the City... Neo Domino City,” she said. “In... in the Commons.” 

 

She squared her shoulders, instinctively bracing herself for a reaction, but Yuzu and Shuzo only looked puzzled. 

 

“Neo Domino?” Yuzu repeated. “Is that close? I haven’t heard of it.” 

 

Shuzo rubbed his chin. “It sounds familiar, but I can’t place it.” 

 

Something cold went down Rin’s spine. 

 

They were in Japan, weren’t they? How could they not know about the City? It was capital, the greatest metropolis on the islands. It was even known to duelists worldwide. It was common knowledge to everyone. 

 

“How can you not have heard of it?” she demanded, her voice rising suddenly as she tensed. Yuzu and Shuzo stared at her with wide eyes. “It’s Neo Domino City! The home of Riding Duels! Of the King, Jack Atlas! Of—” 

 

Of Real Solid Vision, she had been about to say. But then she remembered, suddenly, that among all the other confusing facts she’d found at LDS was that the Leo Corporation had been credited with Real Solid Vision, as part of the creation of Action Duels. 

 

That wasn’t right. The Administrative Council had been the ones to introduce Real Solid Vision. Rin had never even heard of Leo Corporation before. 

 

‘What’s going on?’ she thought frantically. ‘What is this place? Clear Wing, where did you bring me?’ 

 

Yuzu and Shuzo were looking at her with concern, and Rin quickly pulled away a hand and began to back away. “Rin...” Shuzo started to say carefully. 

 

A loud scuffle from around the corner interrupted him. There was a short, indignant yelp and the cut off beginning of a complaint, and two boys tumbled out into the room. Both grunted as they hit the floor in a tangle of limbs. 

 

“Yuya? And Sora?” Yuzu exclaimed. “What are you doing? Were you eavesdropping?!” 

 

Fuming, she marched toward them. The boys scrambled to separate and scuttled backward away from her. “W-wait, Yuzu!” one of them yelled. “We were just worried! We didn’t realize it was so private! I was just saying we should leave!” 

 

“Yeah, we were just worried! Don’t be mad!” the other one agreed around the stick of a lollipop in his mouth. He glanced at Rin, his green gaze sharper than she would have expected from such a young child. 

 

“Seriously, you two! Mind your own business!” Yuzu huffed. Planting hands on her hips, she watched sternly as the boys picked themselves up. “Let’s call of practice for today, okay? Go home, and I’ll see you on Monday.” 

 

“Are you sure, Yuzu? I mean... you were always there for me, with all the stuff with Dad. I want to help too,” the older boy said, peering around Yuzu. 

 

He said something else too, but Rin didn’t register it. She couldn’t, now that she finally saw his face. 

 

‘Yugo,’ she thought, going completely still. 

 

It wasn’t, and Rin managed to reign in her impulse in time to stop herself from calling out to him. Still, something of her shock must have shown on her face, because the boy with Yugo’s face furrowed his brow in confusion and concern. She quickly tore her gaze away. 

 

It wasn’t Yugo, Rin reminded herself. They might have had the same face, but everything else was completely different. The hairstyle, the relaxed way he stood, the gentler expression on his face. Yugo exaggerated everything far more. He would have never been so restrained, even in his calmest moments. 

 

‘But he’s not that creepy guy either,’ Rin thought. ‘Right?’ Not if Yuzu, who seemed an ordinary girl, knew him. 

 

Then... How could there be three people with the same face? It couldn’t be just coincidence. 

 

The same face — Rin glanced at Yuzu again. 

 

Right. Of course. Of course it wasn’t some fairy tale about a long lost family. Having the same face didn’t mean something so simple and benign. “Stupid,” Rin couldn’t help muttering under her breath, gritting her teeth. 

 

“Forget it,” she announced abruptly and turned on her heel. “It doesn’t matter — you’re wrong. I’m going home.” 

 

“What? But—” Yuzu protested, clasping her hands uncertainly. “But...” 

 

“Wait, Rin!” Shuzo rushed to step in front of her. “We don’t know that yet! Let’s at least try to—” 

 

“No way!” she snapped. “I’m going home!” 

 

Home was where that imposter had found her. There was, she knew logically, no running from whatever this was. But home was also where Yugo was. And if nothing else, having at her back would make her feel less scared. The two of them could take on anything, even the entire world. 

 

‘Clear Wing,’ she thought desperately, ‘take me home. Take me back to Yugo!’ 

 

There was no answer, not even the distant impression of one. 

 

Shuzo’s expression crumbled as he watched her bite her lip, distress in every line of her face. “Rin... okay. If that’s what you want,” he said, backing away and holding up his hands in a gesture of peace. “But at least let me take you there. It sounds like you’re quite a ways from home. How about it?” 

 

Let them take her home — in other words, bring them with her to her home. Rin’s eyes slid to the boy with Yugo’s face and to Yuzu. Did she really want to invite them, these strange doppelgangers, back? But a chance was a chance. Turning down help was only making things harder on herself. She scolded Yugo for that often enough. 

 

‘Aaargh! I can’t take all this worrying!’ Rin thought furiously, grinding her teeth. ‘If they try anything, we’ll pound them!’ 

 

“Fine!” she pinned Shuzo with a glare. “Let’s go!” 

 

~.~.~


	4. 1:1 Shared time

**Notes:** Hey, why don’t we detour into moar references? (after, you know, filler) Now, tbh Standard isn’t the “original series” dimension. It’s actually the Pendulum dimension, matching to the fifth series, not the first one. But like I care about that! 

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 4: Shared time**

 

Clearing his throat awkwardly, Shuzo ran a hand through his short hair. “Well... There’s no place called Neo Domino,” he said in a rush. “I checked everywhere, all the maps.” 

 

She pursed her lips stubbornly. “That’s what my hometown is called,” Rin insisted. 

 

“Um... not that I don’t believe you,” Yuzu’s friend, Yuya, said tentatively, “but how did you even end up here if you don’t know how to get back?” 

 

He cringed a little as Rin turned a glare on him. Another pansy, she decided. This town was full of them. But still, putting that look on Yugo’s face, even if someone else was wearing it, made her feel a twinge of guilt. She looked away, trying to smooth out her expression. It was just that... she needed that anger. It was the only thing keeping fear from clawing at her gut. 

 

How could the City not exist? That wasn’t possible. 

 

“I want to know too,” the younger one, Sora, agreed. Pulling the lollipop from his mouth, he waved it absently. “Did you get lost?” His tone was innocent — almost too innocent. 

 

“Sora, she doesn’t owe us an explanation,” Yuzu said strictly, hands on her hips. 

 

Rin had been trying to pretend she didn’t notice the slightly hurt, tentative glances the other girl kept sneaking toward her. But it was hard, and it only added to her sense of guilt. Yuzu didn’t know about the doppelgangers or the other things that made Rin reject Shuzo’s rosy idea of a fateful family reunion. It must have felt like Rin was rejecting her. It made Rin squirm internally. 

 

“I was... running from someone,” she admitted. Her posture closed off as she remembered the desperate chase through dark alleys, pursued by that sinister cloaked imposter. “I don’t know who he was, but... he gave me a bad feeling, and he wouldn’t stop following me. I was running and then... I don’t remember what happened. I woke up in the park by LDS.” 

 

‘Clear Wing brought me here,’ she added mentally, but she wasn’t willing to try saying that out loud. It sounded too fantastical, even more so than long lost twins. 

 

The squirming of her insides only increased at Yuzu’s concerned, sympathetic look and Shuzo’s obvious anger on her behalf. “Well! It’s a good thing we’re going with you!” he said. “If that creep comes back, I’ll teach him a thing or two! And don’t worry, I do have an idea. I finally remember why Neo Domino sounded familiar. And that is... Domino City, the birthplace of competitive dueling!” 

 

He received only four blank looks, making him groan in frustration. 

 

“Come on, kids! Don’t tell me you don’t know?” Shuzo hung his head in defeat. “I suppose it was too long ago for you. Let’s just say it was once a very famous place. It’s a few hours from Maiami. We can drive over tomorrow. Or if we leave now, we’ll probably get there just before dark. That way, we’ll have the whole day tomorrow to look around, but we’ll have to spend the night. Which one do you prefer?” 

 

“Going now,” Rin said immediately. 

 

“I’m okay with that,” Yuzu nodded. 

 

“Me too,” Yuya agreed cheerfully. “Just let me call Mom and let her know I’m spending the night with you guys.” 

  
“Same!” Sora added. 

 

Shuzo made a face. “Erm... You boys are coming too?” 

 

“Of course, Coach!” Sora chirped. “We’ve gotta show our support, right? After all, we’re all You Show students together!” 

 

“That’s true, that’s true!” Shuzo laughed. “The van can take everyone, it’s fine. Go ahead and call your parents, and I’ll get everything ready.” As everyone split up, he paused to clap a comforting hand on Rin’s shoulder. “Don’t worry,” he said. “We’ll get you back home, I promise.” 

 

He didn’t wait for a response. Rin didn’t know what she would have told him anyway. ‘Thanks, but I’m not sure that’s something you can do,’ she thought, reaching out lightly touch her deck pouch. But nothing had changed. There was response, no matter how faint or distant. 

 

~.~.~

 

When they reconvened in front of the school, Yuzu and Yuya were carrying four overnight bags between them. One was Yuzu’s, one for Shuzo, and one for Yuya, who had left more than enough things at You Show over his long friendship with Yuzu and her father to fill the bag with necessities. 

 

“And one for you,” Yuzu explained, handing the duffle bag to Rin. “You don’t have anything with you, right? We’re the same size, you can use some of my stuff.” 

 

Like Shuzo, she didn’t wait for any reply. She hadn’t done it expecting thanks or any kind of repayment, just acting with a kindness that came naturally to her — to all of them, it seemed. Yuya too flashed her a cheery smile as he slid open the van door. “Do you want to take the front seat?” he asked. “See if anything looks familiar on the way?” 

 

It wouldn’t. Rin had never been outside the City before, and it wasn’t like she had traveled from it now. She had simply appeared in that park. 

 

“No, I’ll sit in the back,” she said. “There’s more room, right?” 

 

“True!” Yuya agreed. 

 

Sora had already scurried inside and sprawled over the entire backseat. Seeing Rin duck into the van, he sat up enough to free up a single space and waved to her energetically. “Over here, over here!” he called out. “Sit with me, Rin!” 

 

A meaningful, disapproving look from Yuya made him straighten completely, leaving enough room for Yuzu on his other side. Rin was guiltily glad to have him between them, forestalling any attempts at a heart to heart from her not-twin. The knowledge that her reluctance was upsetting Yuzu and Shuzo, who had shown her nothing but kindness, just made Rin feel worse. 

 

“So are you a duelist, Rin? You've got a deck, right?” Sora asked brightly, turning to her once everyone was settled and they were under way. “What kind of dueling do you do? I'm a Fusion duelist myself.” 

 

“Everybody uses Synchro where I'm from,” Rin said. That was, of course, because Synchro was the only Extra Deck summoning method where she was from. 

 

“Synchro, huh,” Sora repeated. He turned over the lollipop in his mouth, expression thoughtful. “That's interesting.” 

 

“That's amazing,” Yuzu said earnestly. Her clear and honest admiration made Rin clear her throat awkwardly and glance out the window. “I mean it. I haven't even started learning any special summon method yet. We’re still focusing on mastering Tribute.” She grinned suddenly. “Or we were, but Yuya went and invented a whole new summoning method.” 

 

“Pendulum summoning!” Sora chimed in, pulling out of whatever he had been contemplating. “It's really amazing! It's why I joined You Show — to see it even more!” 

 

“Come on, you guys. Don't hype it up so much,” Yuya protested. Twisting in his seat in front of them, he joined the conversation. Despite his words, he had a pleased if embarrassed smile on his face. “I still have a long way to go to master it.” 

 

Yugo would have never even tried to be humble. Again, Rin was struck by how wrong Yuya’s expressions looked on that familiar face. 

 

No, that wasn't fair. Yuya’s expressions looked right on Yuya. He was just not the one she wanted to see. 

 

“That... sounds cool,” she forced herself to respond before anyone noticed her hesitation. Giving herself a mental pinch, she added more firmly, “Sounds like something I'd like to try my deck against. How about a duel later? Both of you. And Yuzu too.” 

 

It was actually Yugo’s deck... but at least this way it would be like he was here with her in some small way. 

 

Oddly, Yuya shot her a grateful smile. “I'd like that too. We’ll show you what You Show’s special entertainment dueling is all about!” 

 

“Without an Action Field?” 

 

Rin nodded sharply to Yuzu’s question. “Yeah, let’s do it right now,” she said. “Sora, scram. Yuzu and Yuya, switch up. We’ll play on the middle seat.” She snorted at the blank looks she received. These kids... “What’s the matter? Never dueled without a duel disk? We did that all the time at the orphanage, before we got our own disks.” 

 

“Old school! I like it!” Shuzo called from the driver’s seat. 

 

“That’s because you’re old!” Yuzu called back, laughing. “Come on, Yuya, get over here!” 

 

They scramble around awkwardly, even Rin having to lift her legs and scrunch into the corner to give them room to maneuver. But finally, Yuya was grinning at her from the other end of the backseat, deck in hand. 

 

Amusingly, he wasn’t very good at shuffling by hand. Rin snickered when he tried to match her practiced movements and nearly ended up spilling his deck across the backseat. 

 

“Alright, that’s good enough,” she said. “Take out your Extra Deck and set it over there. And this is where the Graveyard will go. Got it?” 

 

“Right! Then I’ll go first,” Yuya started to say. 

 

“Is that how an entertainment duelist from You Show duels?” Shuzo yelled back to them. “Get more fired up!” 

 

“Dad, keep your eyes on the road!” Yuzu protested, scowling. 

 

Yuya laughed. “Okay, okay! Well, then... Ladies and gentleman!” he declared dramatically, winking at Sora, the singular gentleman. “May I present to you — the entertainment for this journey! A thrilling duel between our very own You Show style and our Synchro challenger! Keep a close eye on this passionate clash of summoning!” 

 

“—Pfft!” Rin couldn’t help snorting at his showy narration and grand arm gestures — hampered by the narrow space. 

 

“That’s it! Give it everything you’ve got! Fire it up!” Shuzo yelled. Groaning, Yuzu massaged her forehead. 

 

“Then let’s start this off with a bang!” Yuya went on, grinning. “I set the Pendulum Scale with Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and Scale 8 Timegazer Magician! With this, I can... um. Hang on.” Despite starting off strong, he trailed off and peered dubiously at the seat cushion between them, two cards still held dramatically aloft. “Where should I put the Pendulum Scales?” 

 

Rin watched in bemusement as the three You Show students exchanged confused and then knowing glances. 

 

“Oh, I see...” Yuzu muttered. “Normally, they go at the very ends of the duel disk, in the Monster Zone. But Pendulum Scales are considered magic cards when set, so maybe they should go in the Spell and Trap Zone?” 

 

“Shouldn’t they just go outside all the normal zones? Scales don’t take up spaces in Monster or Spell Zone,” Sora pointed out, gesturing with his lollipop.

 

“I don’t think they’re going to fit if I do that,” Yuya said, making a face. The backseat wasn’t very wide, especially the flat part that could safely hold cards. “I guess I’ll... put them in the back row. Well, it’s a good handicap, I suppose...” He cleared his throat. “I set the Pendulum Scale! With this, I can Summon monsters between Levels 2 and 7 simultaneously!"

 

As he had said, he slapped the two monster cards he’d been holding onto his back row, between his deck and Extra Deck. They looked subtly different from any other monster types Rin had seen, with green along the bottom of the card and an extra list of properties beneath the image. 

 

"Swing, pendulum of souls! Draw an arc of light across the ether! Pendulum Summon! “ Yuya declared. He paused and pursed his lips somewhat sulkily. “...It’s not the same without Solid Vision.”

 

Shuzo made a noise of derision, still listening in, and Rin echoed him. “Are you gonna end your turn or what?” she asked. “Hurry up, so I can show you how it’s done.” 

 

“I haven’t summoned yet! That was just setting the scales!” Yuya said. “So appear, my monster servants! Performapal Hip Hippo! Performapal Whip Snake!” Taking two monsters from his hand, he placed them in the front of his imaginary field. He huffed as Rin opened her mouth to hurry him along again, making her keep silent with a grin. “And now, please put your hands together! Today's main attraction, the rare dragon with wondrous and beautiful different colored eyes! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!

 

“And with that, I end my turn. Let’s see what my opponent has in store!” Smiling proudly, Yuya cross his arms. 

 

“I don’t think she’s impressed,” Sora stage-whispered to Yuzu. 

 

“It’s not like I’ve never seen somebody summon three monsters in one turn,” Rin said. “You’re going to have to do better than that!” 

 

“Tough crowd,” Yuya complained lightly. 

 

Even though she tried to maintain a disinterested facade, Rin couldn’t help smiling. Playing a game like this, just for fun, messing up together, winging it — it was so familiar. That was what had always made Duel Monsters amazing. Dueling connected people. Even those who had never met before could become fast friends through just a duel. It was something everyone could share, rich or poor, and even in a strange place like this. 

 

Pendulum Summoning, where two monsters served as the guideposts for others to pass between. She couldn’t wait to tell Yugo about it. 

 

But for now, she had a turn to take. “I draw!” Rin announced, pulling a card from the top of Yugo’s deck. Seeing what it was, she smirked. 

 

Yuya had shown her his special move on his first turn. She couldn’t let herself do any less than Synchro summon on her first turn too. And with the cards Yugo’s deck had given her, she knew just the way to do it. 

 

~.~.~


	5. 1:1 Where it began

—————

 

**Notes:** Not really much point to this detour tbh, but I do what I want. Also, I don’t actually have a plot outline? I’m just writing whatever. 

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 5: Where it began**

 

They ended up getting lost twice, throwing off Shuzo’s estimate for their time of arrival. It was already well after sunset when they finally approached Domino City, a large sign declaring the next five exits belonging to it. There was another sign next to it as well, pointing further down the wide road, but Rin only caught what looked like a logo in the shape of the initials KC. 

 

Shuzo breathed a sigh of relief and exhaustion. “Better start looking for a place to spend the night,” he said. Groaning, he added under his breath, “I forgot what long drives are like. I swear I used to be better at this..” 

 

“Huh? Are we there yet?” Yuya started awake in the middle seat opposite Rin’s. Curled up in the back seat after taking the last duel, Sora and Yuzu stirred too. 

 

“We should be, yeah,” Shuzo said, a note of unease entering his voice. “But...” 

 

“Woah! It’s completely dark,” Sora drew out, pressing his face against the chilly glass. 

 

He was right. The tall streetlights along the highway stretched out into the distance in two curving rows, crossing and separating with another double path of lights in the distance. It was an almost familiar, nostalgic sight to Rin, reminding her of the way the dueling highways stretched out over the City as she and Yugo sped along, testing out their newly completed D-Wheel. 

 

But it was also completely different. The city lights that should have been all around the highway were nowhere to be seen. The black monoliths of the highrise buildings in the center loomed toward the sky, completely still and empty of life. 

 

The entire city was dark. 

 

“That’s weird,” Yuzu said. “Is it a blackout?” 

 

None of them had an answer, and the silence stretched on, interrupted only by the rhythmic pounding of the van’s wheels against the raised highway. As they drove into the city itself, surrounded by the dark buildings, the atmosphere only became more unsettling. 

 

“I don’t think it is,” Yuya responded, belatedly. “There’s no one around at all. Look, there’s no other cards, or any people. If it was a blackout, there’d be someone walking with a flashlight, right?” 

 

“Should we get off the freeway and check...?” Shuzo began to suggest. 

 

“No!” the children protested together, loud enough to make him jump and the van swerve slightly. 

 

“It’s creepy,” Yuzu added. “I don’t think we should stop here. Let’s... let’s just get to the other side, and wait until morning.” 

 

Looking up at the dark spire of the tallest building in the city as it passed by to one side of them, Rin silently agreed. 

 

~.~.~

 

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they emerged on the other side of Domino City. The lights of the nearest town over were a comforting sight, as was the small gas station where they pulled over. The mini mart was already closed and locked up, but logos flashed in the windows, promising ice cold beverages and hot buns. 

 

No one was very hungry. “Alright, kids!” Shuzo said, visibly shaking himself and turning to face them from the front seat. “We’re all tired, so let’s settle in for the night. Fold down the seats and roll out the sleeping bags!” 

 

“We’re sleeping here?” Yuya wondered. “Can’t we go to a motel or something? I’ve saved up some allowance, so I can pay for me and Sora.” 

 

“That won’t do! This is important training!” Shuzo said.

 

Rin didn’t see the issue. A sleeping bag with a roof over her head sounded like a perfectly fine way to spend the night. She’d slept on a park bench a day ago, and in far worse places growing up. Opening the van door, she hopped out and began to fiddle with her seat in an effort to fold it like Shuzo had said. Obligingly, Sora pushed it from behind and grinned when they succeeded. 

 

“How is roughing it training for entertainment dueling?” Yuzu wondered. “We’re not going to be camping out for a duel.” 

 

“You never know. It’s good to be prepared,” her father replied. “And anyway—” 

 

“Move it, Yuya,” Rin ordered, climbing back in and all but dragging the boy off his seat, which was her next target. 

 

“I think it sounds like fun,” Sora added, beaming. “Like a sleepover!” 

 

Yuzu threw up her hands in surrender. “Fine, fine, let’s get this over with. Dad, where did you put those sleeping bags?” 

 

Even with the seats folded, there wasn’t really enough room for four children and an adult to all lay inside. However, Sora quietly curled up in a corner, barely taking up any space, and Rin did the same. She waved away the worried look Yuzu sent her and just watched as the Hiiragi family and Yuya settled down. 

 

“I don’t get it,” Yuya said, his voice low in the dark of the van interior. His face was lit by the glow of his duel disk’s screen as he scrolled through something on the web. “No matter where I look, there’s nothing recent about Domino City at all. Like Coach said, it’s where competitive dueling began, and there’s stories about the legendary duelists from there and the big tournaments, but that was so long ago...” 

 

“Maybe that’s why it’s empty,” Yuzu suggested. “It was abandoned long ago too.” 

 

“Do people just abandon cities?” her friend said, lowering his disk. “A city this big? Did everyone really just pack up and leave? Did they go to Rin’s Neo Domino instead? But how we couldn’t find out where it is?” 

 

He and Yuzu glanced at her, making Rin curl up a little more and bury her nose in the blanket wrapped around her. “The Neo Domino City I’m from,” she said slowly, “was built on top of the old Domino City. And even now, it’s considered the center of the dueling world, just like in the past when dueling began.” 

 

It didn’t make any sense, and all of them knew it. Rin could only be grateful they hadn’t dismissed her completely, accused her of lying or just plain being out of her mind. 

 

“A city that’s the center of dueling. A dueling king. And even a whole other way of dueling,” Sora mused, referring to the Riding Duels Rin had described to them, to Yuzu and Yuya’s fascination. “It almost sounds like a totally different world.” 

 

“Another world...?” Yuzu repeated, her eyes widening. Instinctively, she glanced at Rin. She looked away just as quickly, frowning. 

 

Another world. Rin had been thinking that too, no matter how fantastical it had seemed. Because it wasn’t as if Clear Wing had thrown her into the future. The skyline of Domino City, even completely dark, was all wrong. Things just didn’t add up. There was no straight line between her home and Yuzu’s. 

 

“W, wait a minute,” Yuzu protested, waving her hands. “Other worlds? That’s really crazy. There’s no way something like that exists.”

 

Sora hummed thoughtfully. “But what if it did? What if there’s more than one dimension? More than one version of the same city. More than one version of the same person...” 

 

“Okay, that’s enough with the ghost stories!” Shuzo broke in, sitting up from where he’d claimed his place down the center of the van to separate Yuya and Sora to one side, and Yuzu and Rin to the other. Lifting up his eyemask, he gave them all a stern look. “We’ll find out what’s going on tomorrow. Now, it’s bedtime for young duelists in training, got it?” 

 

Huffly chorusing their agreements, the children settled down. He was right. Maybe things would make more sense in the light of day.  

 

~.~.~

 

The drive back into the empty city was silent. Daylight just made the lack of sound — of life — even more pronounced. They took an exit downtown, descending from the highway into the forest of skyscrapers. All of them looked around awkwardly, but no one seemed willing to say the first word. 

 

Finally, Shuzo pulled neatly into an empty parking space at what looked like a central plaza and cut the engine. “Okay,” he said, almost as if reassuring himself as much as them, “there’s no point in just driving around. So let’s start looking. If we can’t find anything in a couple hours, we’ll head home and trying something else.”

 

“Um, I’m just going to say... let’s not split up. That’s how horror movies start,” Yuya piped up. 

 

Sora snickered. 

 

Huffing, Yuzu shoved him toward the door. “Oh for... this isn’t a horror movie! It’s just an abandoned city.” 

 

“It doesn’t look like an abandoned town though,” Yuya pointed out, even as he let himself he pushed out onto the sidewalk. “It’s so clean, and everything looks in one piece.” 

 

He had a point. The streets and sidewalks were completely clean, and even the bushes around the plaza were neatly trimmed. The large clock in the center had stopped at 11:42. The clock in Rin’s stopwatch had stopped working when Clear Wing carried her to Maiami, but she knew it was roughly a little after eleven in reality. 

 

Chatting nervously, they fanned out across the plaza. Even as they wandered in and out of the shops and cafe, which stood but empty, they instinctively never quite left each other’s sight. The fear of suddenly finding themselves alone — all alone — was too pressing. 

 

But every few minutes, Rin’s gaze kept drifting to the unmoving clock. 

 

“This isn’t getting us anywhere,” Sora finally pointed out. “It’s weird and creepy, but we’re not learning anything new. Should we go somewhere else?” 

 

“But where?” Yuzu said, walking over to him with Yuya in tow. Shuzo and Rin too drifted over, their little group reconvening. 

 

“How about a library? The map says there’s one only a couple block from here,” Yuya suggested. 

 

Rin tuned out their aimless and somewhat fruitless discussion. Pulling out her duel disk, she clicked it on and checked the display. Surprisingly, it had no problem linking up to the local system and even accepting all the strange new summoning methods and cards, and it displayed the timestamp without issue. 

 

11:40

 

Something was humming within the disk, in the back where she had inserted the Extra Deck after their duels in the backseat. She could feel the heat and vibrations pulsing subtly down her hands. 

 

‘It’s coming,’ Rin thought. ‘Something is...’ 

 

She turned quickly, about to call out to the others, but it had already started. A ripple seemed to pass across the plaza, the lines of reality wavering. The colors of deep space and distant stars glimmered behind and through the buildings. 

 

“What’s going on?” Yuzu called out, frightened. She and Yuya instinctively linked hands, and Shuzo hurried to them, staggering as if his balance was thrown off by the strange unsteadiness of the world. 

 

Standing alone, Sora too looked around in alarm but also readiness, duel disk on his arm and half raised.  

 

Clear Wing roared, just barely audible. All the sounds of a busy city hit them suddenly, a confusion of chattering voices, gunning engines, slightly staticy music, and even the beat of a helicopter’s blades. After the city’s silence, it was shocking. 

 

Visions of those bustling crowds flickered in and out all around them. Rin flinched away as a woman and her child appeared right in front of her — and passed straight through her. 

 

Clear Wing was roaring still, louder now and... different. Full of rage. It wasn’t just Clear Wing. There were others too, just as furious and terrifying. Rin’s heart skipped, pounding as the sound cresended. She whipped her head around frantically, but everything was a confusing, shifting mess of unreality. 

 

Another roar, louder, deeper, and closer. The ground heaved, and suddenly the city looked different. Cracks spread across the buildings, signs of damage darkening everything. 

 

A massive shadow passed overhead. Then another and another and another, joining it with their wings spread wide.

 

Clear Wing’s card was shining like a star. And so, she realized, was a card in Yuya’s deck — Odd Eyes’s, she knew instinctively. 

 

And just abruptly, it was over. Stumbling at the sudden release of tension and breathless from the pressure, Rin looked around — and down at her duel disk, still clutched in her hand. 

 

11:43

 

“Wha, what was that...?” Yuzu wondered, swallowing heavily. 

 

“Another world,” Yuya said in the same weak, unsure tone, “I guess.” 

 

~.~.~


	6. 1:1 Impossible as it may seem

**Notes:** Six chapters in, and the main cast is finally on the same page. (Aside from Sora, who is still busy lying to everyone.) This is the end of the first arc, basically. Amusing little detail: Sora is the only one who talks about dimensions. Rin, Yuzu, and Yuya use the more broad “other world” terminology because they don’t really know what’s going on. 

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 6: Impossible as it may seem**

 

They left quickly. Before something else happened — that was what they were all thinking, exchanging unsettled looks but unable to even voice the overflowing questions.

 

“Did that really happen?” Yuzu finally blurted out, as they sped along the highway out of the once again still, deserted city. “We did all see that, right? The... weird field, and the people, and then that... something in the sky?”

 

“Dragons,” Yuya corrected absently.

 

He had pulled out his deck and stared down at it with an unreadable expression. He must have noticed it too — one of his cards responding to that vision or place or whatever it had been. That gap in reality.

 

“It, it must have been something in the air!” Shuzo called back, his hands tight around the steering wheel. “Probably why the whole place was abandoned. As soon as we’re back in Maiami, I’m taking everyone to the doctor. We all need a check over, before we get something worse than a, a group hallucination.”

 

“Are you sure that’s what it was?” Sora asked. Pulling out the now bare stick of his lollipop, he twisted it between his fingers. Squeezed into the backseat, Rin, Yuzu and Yuya couldn’t see his expression. “It seemed pretty clear to me. That place is a gap between dimensions.”

 

“That’s crazy,” Shuzo muttered, but he didn’t sound all too sure of himself.

 

“The origin of Duel Monsters, huh...?” Yuya muttered, finally looking at the others. “If there’s anywhere that could be like that, that’s it.”

 

“What do you mean?” Yuzu asked. Her brow was furrowed, and she was chewing her lip worriedly.

 

“I didn’t used to think about it much, but recently... Dueling isn’t just a game. It’s something more, I’m sure of it,” Yuya said. “I could hear Odd Eyes, when it happened. But also... didn’t you ever wonder where Pendulum came from? My cards just changed. The Pendulum effects just appeared on them, and I can’t even remember doing the summoning, that first time against Ishijima.”

 

That was enough to pull Rin out of her own brooding.

 

Being unfamiliar with every summoning method except Synchro, she hadn’t given Pendulum much thought, despite having been told that it was something new and unique to Yuya. Thinking about it that way, it did sound strange. Pendulum cards were different from normal, and someone had to have created them. Yuya wasn’t a card designer, and if he hadn’t received them from someone else, if they had just changed into a completely different form...

 

Rin had heard stories of dueling legends transforming their aces when they reached a new stage of evolution in their spirits. Everyone knew those stories, and accepted them with the good humor of enjoying an exciting tale.

 

Duel Monster had always held a touch of something... extraordinary, hadn’t it?

 

‘He can’t remember doing it,’ Rin thought. ‘But that’s like... that time when Yugo dueled in that weird, crazy way.’

 

In a way, it had been their own fault. They should have known better than the wander around after dark in that part of the slums with a D-Wheel, even if it had suddenly stopped running, and their well-maintained duel disks. Attracting the wrong kind of attention had been inevitable. Rin and Yugo had admittedly become overconfident in their own skills, so even when one of the larger gangs had cornered them, they had just thrown themselves into the duel.

 

Except that there had been no end to it.

 

The gang had been so much bigger than they’d realized, and every time they defeated a member, a new one would join the duel instead. Even with the intrusion penalty, Rin and Yugo had found themselves being quickly worn down and pushed to the edge.

 

Frustrating to admit, but Rin had gone down first. She was sure they had aimed for her more, but neither of them had been able to keep track in the chaos of the duel. One misstep, and her life points had dropped to zero, the new — stolen — Real Solid Vision in her opponent’s disk sending her flying. A sharp pain that cleaved through her skull, and then...

 

 _‘RIN!!’_ Her clearest memory was of Yugo screaming her name.

 

The gang must have taunted him. There was a faint impression of voices, and then Yugo was beyond worst, his wordless roar sending a chill down her spine, disoriented as she was.

 

They never did figure out how Yugo had wiped them out — and that was what it had been, a massacre duel. He had never remembered more than a blinding need to rend, and Rin had still been staggering, woozy, when they stumbled to shelter in one of the abandoned buildings nearby.

 

Their half-complete D-Wheel, which Yugo had chosen to abandon in favor of supporting her, had still been there in the morning, untouched. And for a long time afterwards, people that should have known nothing about them would quickly avoid them in the streets.

 

Yugo... had used Clear Wing, hadn't he? Its familiar cry echoed in the back of Rin’s confused memories of that night.

 

The conversation carried on around her. “That’s... Isn’t that just a sign of your potential as a duelist?” Yuzu offered with a strained smile. Knowing Yuya best, she was aware that Pendulum wasn’t something he had developed through painstaking effort or even planned in advance. It had simply come to him, and he didn’t even know how.

 

Judging by his blank, strained expression, that uncertainty had been weighing on Yuya more than he had let on.

 

“I’d like to think that,” Yuya chuckled, just as forced. “But still, I just can’t imagine that was all me... It’s too much, isn’t it?”

 

“Yuya, have more faith in yourself,” Yuzu chided. “Otherwise, what do you think? That Pendulum came from another world? That’s a bit of a leap, isn’t it?”

 

“Not really,” Rin said. She ignored the startled, curious looks she received. If she was going to say anything, this was the moment. Taking a deep breath, she turned to them with a stubbornly set, braced expression just short of a glare. “Maybe there’s a world where Pendulum is normal. Just like in the world I’m from, there’s no Fusion or Xyz summoning either. Just Synchro.”

 

Stunned silence settled in the van.

 

“I knew it,” Sora’s low whisper was more audible than he had perhaps intended. He spun around in his seat to face them, his expression becoming beaming and excited. “You’re from another dimension! You’re like... a dimensional counterpart to Yuzu!”

 

“Yeah, I guess so,” Rin said. She crossed her arms, huffing. “I dunno what else it could be. Nothing makes sense. We’re in Japan, but there’s no City, no King, no Riding Duels? All these weird ways of summoning? It can’t be the same world.”

 

“A counterpart...” Yuzu repeated, biting her lip.

 

“Wow... So there’s other versions of us in other dimensions,” Sora mused. “I didn’t know that.”

 

Rin shrugged. “The only ones I’ve met are Yuzu and Yuya. I don’t know anyone who looks like you or Coach, or those guys at LDS. Huh... Maybe Clear Wing counts too.”

 

“Me?” Yuya said in surprise, pointing to himself.

 

“I have a friend. Yugo. He has the same face as you,” Rin explained. “Clear Wing is his. It was always with him, ever since we were kids. He gave it to me, just... to protect me. But Clear Wing and Odd Eyes both responded to whatever that was, didn’t they? Maybe they’re counterparts too, a Pendulum dragon and a Synchro dragon.”

 

She hesitated. Should she tell them about the other one, the imposter with Yugo’s face who had attacked her?

 

And, if Yuya belonged in this world, and Yugo belonged in theirs, then did that mean the third one had come from an entirely different, third world? Why had he crossed dimensions and attacked her...?

 

“Odd Eyes has always been with me too,” Yuya said, and her chance slipped away. Rin let it go. “What’s your friend like? Is he like me?”

 

“Not at all,” Rin said, snorting. “He’s always trying to act tough, and he gets carried away all the time. He’s loud and stubborn and an airhead.” Yuzu and Yuya were chuckling awkwardly at her litany of complaints, unsure how else to respond. Rin smirked. “He’s my best friend. We’ve been together our entire lives, and I can’t imagine being without him.”

 

Too earnest for them, it seemed. Flushing, Yuzu coughed into her fist, while Yuya suddenly found the window and the passing scenery very interesting, scratching at his cheek distractedly. Rin rolled her eyes at them.

 

The van swerved suddenly, sending them all tumbling against each other and clinging to whatever they could get a hold of.

 

“Dad!” Yuzu screeched.

 

“Waaah! Another world?! Another Yuzu?! I’m too old for this!” Shuzo sobbed melodramatically. “I thought I another cute daughter, but actually she’s still my daughter? Slow down and explain again for your old man!”

 

“Pull over, pull over!”

 

“Coach, hold it together!”

 

~.~.~

 

It was late afternoon by the time they made it back to Maiami City.

 

Yuya groaned, stretching with impressive flexibility. “Tomorrow’s Monday, so it’s back to school,” he complained. “I haven’t even started on our homework either...”

 

“Don’t even think about skipping,” Yuzu warned. “I’ll come to your house and drag you out myself if I have to.”

 

Watching their back and forth, Rin felt a pang in her chest. It was different — Yuzu and Yuya were different people, with a different friendship. But it was also so familiar. It reminded her so much of Yugo and herself. The sudden sensation of missing him was like a punch to the gut.

 

What she’d told them was true, she couldn’t have imagined what it was like to be without Yugo, not after doing everything side by side for so long. It hurt, more than she could have expected.

 

She wanted to go home.

 

Except that even her only lead was useless now. There’s wasn’t a road or a bridge to the City. There wasn’t even anywhere for her to go. How was she supposed to get back? What could she do? She couldn’t possibly be stranded here, could she?

 

Should she wait for Clear Wing to take her back? It had to eventually, right? Surely it wanted to return to Yugo, just as much as she did.

 

Or was it that Clear Wing couldn’t return? Was the trip back too hard? Or some other reason she couldn’t imagine?

 

It had reacted, in Domino. If that Domino City was another world’s version of their Neo Domino, then...

 

“You know,” Sora said, pulling her out of her thoughts, “I’m glad we made it out okay. That place was really dangerous. That was, hm... a gap between dimensions, I guess you’d call it? If we’d ended up falling into that, there’s no telling where we’d end up. Or if we’d even ever be able to escape again.”

 

His words were pointed, as if he had guessed exactly what Rin was thinking. At the same time, he was just as pointedly looking away, arms behind his head and posture completely casual. It was the sort of complicated game that Rin had no patience for or skill at.

 

“Thanks for the warning,” she said bluntly, making Sora twitch and bite into his lollipop. “I won’t try it.”

 

At least, not yet.

 

His chagrined, frustrated expression at being called out was endearing, in Rin’s opinion. Although she’d done her best not to let him get too into his tough act, Yugo still hated being caught doing something too sentimental. Teasing him then was incredibly amusing.

 

“You’re such a sweet kid,” she added, grinning and ruffling his hair.

 

There was a sharp crack as he bit straight through the candy in his mouth. Whirling on his heel, Sora rushed off — doubtless, Rin’s barely muffled snickering only made him pick up the pace. “I’m going now!” he called back over his shoulder.

 

“Bye, Sora!” Yuzu waved to him, slightly perplexed.

 

“Well, I better get going too,” Yuya said. “See you tomorrow. You too, Rin!”

 

But with them gone, the silence that followed felt heavy. Rin shifted from foot to foot, then squared her shoulders decisively. She wasn’t going to start shying away now. “I’m—”

 

“You can stay with us,” Yuzu blurted out. “You know that, right?”

 

And now Rin was the one who suddenly felt pinned by too much honesty. Maybe she shouldn’t teased Sora — and Yugo all those times. Having the tables turned and getting a taste of her own medicine wasn’t pleasant at all.

 

“I... don’t even know if there’s a way to get home,” she admitted. “And I don’t know anything about this world. I don’t want to be a burden. You’ve already helped me so much, even if it was because of a misunderstanding.”

 

“Misunderstanding...? You mean about us being sisters,” Yuzu realized. She smiled, shaking her head. “I admit, I... I’m a bit disappointed. The truth is, it sounded so amazing to have a sister. I was trying to tell myself it might not be true, but I started thinking about it more and more... But it’s alright. And, well, you’re another me, right? Isn’t that even closer than family?”

 

Reaching out, she took Rin’s hand in her own. It felt nice. Different from holding hands with Yugo, who’s grip had always been tighter, even as he blushed furiously and avoided looking at her, but nice.  

 

Rin cleared her throat. “L, let’s settle for sisters. It sounds weird to say we’re the same person,” she said. “I’d... like that too.”

 

“Woooooh! I’m so blessed! So fired up!” Shuzo sobbed, embracing them both suddenly. “I have two cute daughters! I’m the luckiest man alive!”

 

Squished face first into his tracksuit, Rin wrinkled her nose. It smelled like sweat and musty car, and he was squeezing her a bit too tightly for her take a full breath. “Dad!” Yuzu protested loudly next to her, wiggling futilely.

 

They eyes met, and they grinned simultaneously.

 

Was this what family felt like? It really was nice. Maybe, maybe it could be a good thing that Clear Wing had sent her here. Just for a little while, selfishly, she’d enjoy this.

 

~.~.~


	7. 1:2 The others

**Notes:** The, uh, anti-hero interlude, of sorts. Also, I’m rearranging certain canon points about how Yuto and Shun came to Standard, mostly in regard to coming together (canon is they came separately) and what they already knew. 

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 7: The others**

 

Things were starting to move. After three years, everything was coming into motion, and their plans would soon be put to the test. They would begin the selection process — the Maiami Championship — and find out if LDS and the people of Standard dimension had the capability to stand against Academia. 

 

It would have been ideal to take the lead and seize the initiative when they finally entered the conflict, rather than being pulled into it by outside events and the actions of the other players, but Reiji had long since calculated the balance between more time to prepare, remaining uninvolved, and moving too early. 

 

Now, it was no longer a choice. 

 

Their equipment for monitoring the dimensional plane, inadequate as it doubtlessly was compared to Akaba Leo’s inventions, had already begun to return little more than noise. But it had been able to confirm at least two breaches in the boundary before the readings became too confused by the disturbances. 

 

At least two parties, each one or more individual, had arrived in Standard dimension within the last two days. Three parties, Reiji guessed, although that was within the margin of uncertainty. 

 

His glasses glinted, reflecting the light of the monitor, as he swept his gaze over the many open windows of his information network. 

 

Identify who those intruders were hadn’t been difficult for the Leo Corporation. They controlled Maiami and  saw everything. Two powerful summoning signatures — one Fusion, one Synchro, both far greater than anything the sheltered students at LDS could manage. 

 

One from downtown Maiami, at the You Show school. A few still from street cameras were clustered in one corner of the screen, showing the only new member of You Show — a young boy that was referred to as Sora. There was no match for him in any citizen or duelist registry. 

 

Reiji had expected a scout from Academia. There were several specific missions the boy could have been assigned, but most likely he had been sent to observe and report back. That in itself could be useful. The only question was what had drawn this Sora to You Show — Sakaki Yuya and his Pendulum summoning, or Hiiragi Yuzu. 

 

Yes, Hiiragi Yuzu... And also, now, that girl from Synchro, the girl who had duelled at LDS. That was where it became complicated. 

 

The two of them who shared Serena’s face would certainly be targeted by Akaba Leo. In fact, the Synchro girl most likely already had been, and it was an encounter with Academia sent her across dimension — without her knowledge or understanding it seemed, based on her search history. 

 

They would be important pieces in the conflict against Academia. And so would Sakaki Yuya. 

 

Himika had already begun to make her plans to approach You Show — although perhaps invade or attack would be the more appropriate word. It was the sort of forceful approach that had made the Leo Corporation, under the guidance of its chairwoman, the greatest force in Standard. It had certainly served Himika well in the past. 

 

But, Reiji thought, steepling his fingers, was it the right approach here? 

 

He did not always agree with Himika’s methods, for all that she was his greatest and most trusted ally. She did not always understand that less certain methods would wield far greater results. The matter of Reira alone...

 

Simply in terms forcing Sakaki Yuya to advance Pendulum further, until it could become a viable weapon against Academia — that could be accomplished through force and intimidation. A cornered duelist could discover great power within themselves. And if push came to shove, they could take Hiiragi Yuzu into protective custody, whether she agreed to it or not. 

 

But. 

 

Reiji needed to know, what circumstances had brought  the Synchro girl to Standard. What was the status of the Synchro dimension? Had Academia made their move there? Trying to piece together and infer what had happened to her from her actions and words — likely insults — would be too unreliable. And judging by her reaction to Sawatari Shingo, she was not the sort who would allow herself to be easily pressured. Reiji, after all, did not have much desire to get punched in the face, which seemed the likeliest outcome of trying to intimidate her. 

 

No, to get her story, it would be most expedient to approach them peacefully — at least at first. 

 

‘It’s decided,’ he thought. 

 

All he needed was an opening, and he had just the right tool — the right fool — for the job.  

 

~.~.~

 

In the dark night, another plan was also being created. 

 

The LDS tower dominated the skyline, the blue diamond at the top shining like a beacon against the dark sky. Maiami City at night was a lovely sight, full of colorful lights that glimmered like jewels, a galaxy of living stars. 

 

Heartland had been even more beautiful, even more lively and shining. But that was all before the Academia had attacked. How long had it been since they had been able to look upon an untouched skyline, lit by peaceful nightlife and not the rare, scattered explosion or attack of a patrol hunting the last survivors? 

 

Looking at it hurt. Turning away, Yuto tugged up the collar of his cloak and pulled down his goggles.

 

The light reflecting off the lenses blinded him almost completely, but that was alright. The rooftop they had chosen as the meeting place was isolated enough that no one could approach without his knowledge. Indeed, he was fully aware as another figure landed on the roof and slowly walked toward him, footsteps muffled despite their firmness. 

 

That was alright too. This was, after all, the person he had been waiting for. 

 

“Shun,” Yuto greeted him. 

 

There was no response. Unlike him, Kurosaki didn’t so much as spare a glance to the city lights. Ever since Ruri had disappeared — had been taken by Academia — Shun had no time for anything except the single purpose that drove him. It couldn’t even be called a hope, too sharp and brittle for such a gentle word. 

 

Getting Ruri back was all that mattered. This was the last thread of Shun’s frayed sanity and sense of self, the final line he couldn’t allow Academia and the world itself to cross. 

 

Yuto didn’t know if that fierce drive made Shun stronger than him, or weaker. Being able to commit to doing whatever necessary meant that Shun was all too likely to go too far. But he also never wavered, always forging onward, and by comparison, Yuto felt as if he couldn’t accomplish anything, always caught between the ideals he wished for and what he had to acknowledge as reality. 

 

“How did it go?” Yuto asked, pushing those useless thoughts away. 

 

“Whether this dimension is where Akaba Leo originally came from, he has roots here,” Shun said, glaring sharply toward the towering spire of the LDS building. 

 

That had been a guess at best, when they set out. The hacked Academia duel disk’s dimensional transportation system had listed four destinations. The Academia soldiers they had interrogated had only been able to give them rumors, that the Professor — real name, Akaba Leo — had come to Fusion from elsewhere. Whether that original dimension had been Standard, Synchro, Xyz — no matter how much they didn’t want to believe it — or even somewhere else entirely, had been something Academia’s leader had managed to hide completely. 

 

Yuto nodded slowly. “That’s what I found too,” he said. “The Leo Corporation was founded by him, and his family still owns it. And that dueling school... It’s probably a branch of Academia. Do you think they’re planning to invade here next?” 

 

“I don’t know,” Shun said, his tone making it clear that he did not care either. “But we can use this to get Ruri back.” 

 

Frowning, Yuto shot him a questioning look. 

 

“You said it yourself. Akaba Leo has a family here,” he explained. Even before he went on, Yuto felt something cold go down his spine. “They must have some value to him. If we have leverage on the Professor himself, Academia will have to bow to our demands.” Shun nodded sharply to himself. “We can exchange them for Ruri.” 

 

Academia hadn’t spared their families, had gone after even children too young to hold a duel disk. So why should they hold back and spare the family of the Professor, their leader Akaba Leo? They were most likely his staunchest allies, poised to ruin another peaceful dimension just like they had ruined Heartland. 

 

There was no reason to hold back. 

 

“Getting to them will be difficult,” Yuto said. “They must have guards. And if they recognize what we are, they will call for reinforcements from Academia to hunt us down.” 

 

That had been the fate of anyone who tried to escape from Heartland. Even though it was called an invasion, Academia did not aim to conquer or subjugate. There was no mercy even for those who didn’t fight. Their goal seemed to be the total genocide of every single human in the Xyz dimension. 

 

The hard cast of Kurosaki’s face said clearly how little the threat of guards or Academia mattered to him. “Let them come. I’ll wipe them out, until Akaba’s family has no choice but to face me themselves,” he said. “And I’ll start with that Academia copy to get their attention.” 

 

LDS. Yuto had observed it closely while they had separated to scout Standard. Logically, he had to assume that it was an extension of Academia in this dimension. That they were creating an army to someday attack this peaceful city as they had Heartland. But it was... 

 

It was like Spade had been. Just a school, with students who loved dueling with passion and joy, students who were training to their fullest potential, and those students who flaunted their supposedly great skills and elite education were still just ordinary kids. Their dueling held many things — pride, joy, arrogance, dreams, determination — but all of it lacked any of the cold, sadistic killing edge of Academia soldiers. 

 

Was Academia like that too? No, that couldn’t be. The soldiers who ruthlessly hunted the people of Heartland wouldn’t have come for a simple school like this, would they? Then, were he and Shun wrong in assuming that LDS was a branch of Academia? 

 

That would mean their actions were wrong. They would be attacking 

 

But even acknowledging that possibility, Yuto hesitated. If he even suggested that to Shun... 

 

“Don’t...” he started to say, “don’t attack the students, okay?” 

 

Kurosaki snorted derisively. “Obviously,” he said, but not out of any kindness. “They’re disposable. Taking them down won’t attract Akaba’s attention. I’ll start with the faculty They must have been handpicked, so they’ll have the most impact.” 

 

What would Ruri have said in this situation? That dueling wasn’t meant to be a tool for instilling fear, most likely. That this wasn’t how they should duel, or they would just disgrace their long struggle to resist Academia. They weren’t fighting just to survive, but also to remain themselves. 

 

That was what Ruri had believed in. She had always clung to that kindness, refusing the war to change her. 

 

And Academia had taken her away. 

 

She hadn’t been turned into a card, Sayaka had seen that much. She had been taken away, and that meant there was still a chance to save her. Fighting for and supporting their comrades no matter was also the heart of the Resistance, wasn’t it? They weren’t wrong to go across dimensions and face any enemy to get her back. 

 

‘Supporting, huh...?’ Yuto thought, closing his eyes. ‘As if I’m actually doing that.’ 

 

Nowhere in Shun’s plan or actions was there any need for Yuto’s presence. Shun had neither asked for nor counted on him. Did Shun distrust him because he sensed that Yuto might hesitate at a crucial moment? Or had his vision simply narrowed too much, seeing only his goal and the enemies in front of him, to even register Yuto? 

 

Not stopping Shun, but also not helping him... what was even the point of his presence? Was there anything he could accomplish here? ...Was there anything he could accomplish at all? 

 

“Shun,” Yuto called out, his voice more hesitated than he had intended. Against the winds that blew over the rooftops, he wasn’t even sure, he had been heard. Shun didn’t look at him, but he hadn’t moved away yet either. “Be careful. And... I’m with you.” 

 

~.~.~


	8. 1:2 A simple offer

**Notes:** Just as a heads up, I’m going to be dropping certain minor characters and subplots entirely. Arc-V is long, and I really won’t be able to cover everything within a reasonable word count. Example from this chapter: Nico Smiley. He just doesn’t appear. 

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 8: A simple offer**

 

Clear Wing’s victorious roar was almost drowned out by the children’s cheers. As the Action Field began to disperse, You Show’s three youngest students surged forward to crowd around their seniors, chattering excitedly about the training duel they had been allowed to spectate. 

 

Shooting them a smile, Rin asked Yuzu, “So, how was it?” 

 

“As a duelist, amazing,” Yuzu admitted sheepishly. “As an entertainer... good for an amateur.” 

 

“You don’t hold back,” Yuya noted, chuckling. 

 

That was fine. It didn’t bother Rin. It didn’t even surprise her — she was, after all, an amateur when it came to entertainment dueling. But it sounded interesting, dueling that could bring smiles. When she and Yugo competed in the Friendship Cup, that was the kind of dueling she’d like to show to everyone in the Commons. 

 

That was why she’d asked Yuzu to teach her, so far with mixed results. 

 

Yuzu was a good duelist, a great one even. And despite what Rin had a little guiltily expected, dueling with a priority other than just winning at any cost didn’t weaken her plays. Just like Yugo’s deck embodied his wild nature without being weaker for the dice and gamble cards he put in, Yuzu’s deck was made to catch the eye and keep it entranced, drawing strength from its own beautiful display. 

 

However, there was one thing her deck lacked, and that was a powerful ace. Mozarta might have been 100 points stronger than Clear Wing, but its effect wasn’t nearly enough, not to mention the inherent disadvantage of needing to draw it in the first place out of her normal deck. In the same way, most of Yuzu’s clever traps to counter Clear Wing had also failed. The dragon cleaved through magic and misdirection, always soaring free and claiming victory. 

 

It was almost unfair. If Rin had been using her own deck, the score would have been much more even. 

 

Rin could have just stopped using Clear Wing, of course — taken it out of her deck altogether, or at least restricted herself from summoning it in almost every duel. 

 

But it wouldn’t have felt right. Yugo had entrusted Clear Wing, his most precious possession and in some ways oldest friend, to her, and leaving it out would almost be an insult to him. Not to mention that Yuzu wouldn’t have thanked her for it. They both had their pride as duelists. 

 

“What Yuzu means is, you’re a great duelist and you put your whole heart into your duels,” Yuya said, waving his hands as if to soften the blow of Yuzu’s critique. “Anyone can see that, so people will naturally respond to your duels.”

 

“But you’re not dueling with the purpose of reaching out to the audience or your opponent,” Yuzu continued ruthlessly. “That’s why it’s not really entertainment dueling.” 

 

Rin clicked her tongue in frustration. “I thought I was finally getting close this time,” she said. “With that combo. It was cool, right?” 

 

The only response was an unimpressed raised eyebrow. “I’m glad you impressed yourself, but you’re supposed to be communicating with the audience,” she drawled. “And by the way, that goes for you too, Yuya. Don’t think I missed how you’ve just been doing nothing but flashy moves without putting any heart into it.”

 

“M-me?!” 

 

Her harsh words made the smile she gave them next all the more effective. “But I know you guys can do it. You’ve got what it takes to become amazing entertainers!” 

 

Even the kids could tell how well she was playing them. They oooh’d quietly, Ayu snickering a little. 

 

“Ladies and gentlemen! Observe the spectacular cruelty from my dearest, closest childhood friend,” Yuya proclaimed, gesturing dramatically, “as she heartlessly strikes at my delicate heart with her cruel words— Ow!” 

 

“What were you expecting?” Rin asked as Yuzu turned away with a huff, fan in hand, and Yuya bent over clutching his aching head. 

 

“Sympathy?” he suggested, wincing. 

 

“Not a chance,” Rin judged. She was smiling — their byplay reminded her of Yugo and their own training in the slums. 

 

They decided to take a break then, since it was time for the Juniors to head home, and walked the children to the lobby of You Show. Ayu and Futoshi lived close enough to make the trip home on their own, but Tatsuya’s mother always came to pick him up, and the three young students had made it a tradition to wait for her together, keeping Tatsuya company. That had been their intent this time as well, to sit and chat together. 

 

But to their surprise, there was already someone else in the lobby — Shuzo, along with two others. 

 

Rin — and, to her surprise, everyone else too — let out a groan at the sight of the visitors. Or rather, one of them in particular. 

 

Hearing them, Sawatari spun around and pointed at them dramatically. “You! Duel me, Sakaki Yuya, Hiiragi Yuzu—” His eyes as he finally realized what he was seeing, and he let out an angry screech. “Two? Why’s there two of you?!” 

 

Rin groaned again and palmed her face. 

 

“Sawatari, what are you doing here?” Yuzu asked, frowning. She crossed her arms, her glare frigid. “If you’re going to cause trouble again...” 

 

He ignored the implied threat, too busy spluttering in his shock and indignation. “Why is there two of you, Hiiragi?! You, you set me up! That time, you were just—” 

 

“I told you I wasn’t Yuzu, you’re the one who didn’t listen,” Rin snapped. 

 

“Fine! It doesn’t even matter!” Sawatari snapped back. Pushing back his hair in a way that was probably supposed to be slick, he smirked. “I’m come to take my revenge, Sakaki Yuya, and you imposter!” 

 

Rin stared at him in open-mouthed shock, which quickly turned toward burning rage. But before she could lose it and do a reenactment of their first meeting at LDS, punching and all, their second visitor clamped a hand down on Sawatari’s shoulder and dragged him back. 

 

“What Sawatari means,” Professor Marco said, smiling in a rather forceful way, “we were hoping to arrange an exhibition duel between him and one of You Show’s students. It would be a fine warm up for the upcoming championship, wouldn’t you say?” 

 

That had been what he and Shuzo had been discussing, before the students arrived. Judging by Shuzo’s expression, it hadn’t been going particularly well. 

 

“Wouldn’t this championship be all more reason to keep our decks to ourselves until then?” Rin pointed out. 

 

“Hah! So you’re afraid to face me again, Synchro girl! You know that time was a fluke!” Sawatari crowed, but the only reaction he received was a sneer. That kind of provocation was too obvious to work on Rin. 

 

He winced as Professor Marco tightened his grip painfully on Sawatari’s shoulder. 

 

“We’re very sorry about the misunderstanding before, and about the false accusations,” he said. “Sawatari here got carried away, that’s all. But he was so impressed by your skills that he has come to greatly admire you — both of you. He feels he absolutely must duel you again.” 

 

At that moment, Rin and Yuzu unknowingly wore the exact same expression of disbelief. 

 

“And of course, we aren’t asking you to duel as just a favor,” Marco added. “If you win, your qualification requirements for the Maiami Championship will be waived. LDS will take care of all the paperwork as well.”  

 

Now that was something interesting. 

 

Shuzo crossed his arms, frowning thoughtfully. “Do you really have the authority to decide something like that? Wouldn’t it look bad for the Leo Corporation, if it got out that you’re just letting someone get in without the requirements?” 

 

“It’s alright. I’ve received permission from the owner himself,” Professor Marco assured him. 

 

“The owner...? You mean the Leo Corporation CEO?” Shuzo realized in surprise. “But why would he do that?” 

 

“He graciously accepted the request I made on Sawatari’s behalf,” Marco explained. “It’s not that surprising. The purpose of the championship admission requirements is to select the most passionate, most talented young duelists around the world. It’s not to stop those with great potential from entering. From your duels with Sawatari, we could easily tell you have what it takes to be in the Maiami Championship. It would be a shame for you to be excluded just because of some technicality. It’s win-win, would you say?” 

 

It didn’t sound particularly strange to Rin. Obviously, it was nonsense, but it was the kind of Tops nonsense she was used to. Rules were something to be casually twisted or dismissed, as long as it suited those in power. All for the sake of a better, more amusing show. 

 

Infuriating, of course, that their lives and their dueling was to be used like that, but Rin and Yugo had both made their peace with that when they decided to enter the Friendship Cup and fight their way to the top, just as the King had. 

 

However, judging by Shuzo’s dubious expression and Yuzu’s deepening frown, the others did not find it quite so believable. 

 

“That’s... quite a generous offer,” Shuzo said. 

 

“But could you give us a moment to talk it over?” Yuzu interjected firmly. 

 

As Professor Marco smiled and nodded, she dragged the rest of their group to the opposite side of the lobby. The children watched silently, wide-eyed, as their teacher and seniors huddled in a circle. 

 

“I wasn’t going to enter anyway, so I don’t care,” Rin said straight away. “If I get pulled back home in the middle, it’ll be really annoying, you know? So you guys decide on your own.” 

 

“But it’s a great chance! You could practice your entertainment dueling with a real audience,” Yuya said. “You don’t even have a duelist registration right now, but if LDS takes care of that, isn’t worth using the opportunity? Don’t look a gift Friendonkey in the month.” 

 

“Guh...” 

 

Unknowingly, he hit Rin in a weak spot. Taking every chance, no matter how distasteful, was something she herself had told other, more prideful Commons many times. Passing up a freely given chance was just foolishness, in her mind. If she thought about it like that, passing up the chance to gain experience in an actual tournament was also foolish, even if being unable to finish it by chance would be annoying. 

 

Plus, it would nice to participate together with Yuzu and Yuya, she had to admit. 

 

“I guess we’re taking it?” Rin sighed. 

 

“W-well, to be honest, I was hoping to raise my average the normal way,” Yuya admitted sheepishly. “I only need a little bit. I can do that myself.” 

 

“I agree. You shouldn’t do it, Yuya,” Yuzu said. “That’s probably what they’re really aiming for.” She sighed as Yuya looked at her in surprise. “Until they came here, they didn’t know that Rin wasn’t me. But here’s the thing, I already qualify. There’s no reason for me to take their offer, so they probably expected me to refuse. The only one they really want to see duel is Yuya, they’re just covering it up by offering it to both of us — both of you.”

 

Rin nodded slowly. “OK, but why?” 

 

“Pendulum,” Yuya sighed. “That’s gotta be it, right?” 

 

“I guess it’s not a big deal to you because you didn’t know about Fusion or Xyz either, but Pendulum is the first new summoning style in ages,” Yuzu said. “Everyone is really interested in it. And Leo Corporation is the big name in dueling. Of course they want it for themselves.” 

 

“They probably want to make their own Pendulum cards,” Shuzo said. “It was like that with Yusho’s entertainment dueling too. He was the pioneer, but everyone tried to copy him once it became clear that it was the next evolution of dueling.” 

 

“Like the Tops copied our Riding Duels,” Rin said, scowling. 

 

“That’s why it’s better if you don’t take them up on it, Yuya,” Yuzu said. “Okay?” 

 

Yuya’s expression had blanked as he had gotten lost in thought, and he blinked quickly, focusing on her again. “Oh... yeah,” he said. “Got it.” 

 

Sawatari had been glowering at them impatiently all through their whispered discussion, but he tried to force on a confident smirk as they made their way back to where their visitors waited. “I knew you couldn’t resist a match with me, the great Sawatari!” he proclaimed. 

 

Ignoring him pointedly, Rin turned to Professor Marco. “I accept. I’ll beat him a second time, and you’ll handle getting me into the Maiami Championship,” she said bluntly. 

 

“Wonderful! And about Sakaki Yuya?” Marco said, smiling at the boy in question. His beaming expression was in direct contrast to the way his hand tightened again on Sawatari’s shoulder, stopping him from doing anything more than squawking in protest. 

 

“I’m good,” Yuya said, shrugging. “I just need to get my average up, that’s all.” 

 

“Then I’ll arrange a court for us at LDS,” Professor Marco said. “We’ll be waiting for you tomorrow, let’s say... four o’clock?” 

 

Even as he was all but dragged out of You Show, Sawatari insisted on twisting around to deliver a final haughty look. “Get ready to lose! I’ll have my revenge, Fake Hiiragi!” he yelled. 

 

That was the last straw. 

 

“It’s Rin, you useless fop!” she screeched in return, just before the doors slid shut behind them. Only Shuzo and Yuzu’s quick reaction stopped her from running after him. “I’ll bury you!” 

 

~.~.~


	9. 1:2 Yours and yours alone

**Notes:** prupruprupru here comes plot-like substance! Also, I can’t Reiji at all. Or, uh, Yuya. 

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 9: Yours and yours alone**

 

Given his general efficiency, they had almost expected Professor Marco to be waiting for them when they arrived at LDS the next day. However, he was not, and their entire group crowded awkwardly in the corner of the lobby, drawing suspicious and disdainful looks from the passing students and adults. 

 

“Should we ask the front desk?” Yuya suggested in a completely unnecessary stage whisper. “Or just wait here?” 

 

“Maybe they were just messing with you guys,” Sora said. 

 

He had skipped You Show the day before, showing up only for dinner at Yuya’s house. He hadn’t really explained what he had been up to, but once he’d heard about the upcoming match between Rin and Sawatari, he had insisted on coming along. 

 

His gaze was surprisingly cold and sharp as he glanced around the bright lobby — until Shuzo rapped his knuckles against the top of Sora’s skull.

 

“Enough with that attitude!” the coach chided, ruffling Sora’s hair roughly. “Get more fired up! It’s a great opportunity for Rin to have an official duel! And for everyone to observe!” 

 

“Only if he got a lot better since last time,” Rin muttered. “Ouch!” 

 

“You too! No negative attitude! Respect your opponent!” Shuzo ordered, dragging the knuckles of his other hand across her skull. 

 

Behind his back, Yuzu and Yuya exchanged a deeply dubious look. Sawatari had practically taken Yuzu and the kids hostage when he wanted to duel Yuya, even setting aside the part where he lied and acted all buddy-buddy to get the duel in the first place and then tried to have his cronies grab them. 

 

‘We’re supposed to respect... that?’ they thought. ‘Not a chance.’ 

 

“AAAH!! You! There you are!” 

 

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. As if summoned by the mere mention of him, Sawatari burst into the lobby from deeper in the building, and pointed at them accusingly. Several sighed in unison closed their eyes as they begged for patience. 

 

“You lot and Professor Marco too! Who do you think you are, making the great Sawatari wait!” he complained, storming toward them. “It’s basic respect for your opponent to arrive on time!” 

 

“We did arrive on time, we just didn’t know where to go,” Rin shot back. “And it’s only two minutes after. Did you run off looking for us the moment it was four? It’s basic respect to wait at least five minutes too, you know.” 

 

“Urgh!” Sawatari flinched back, glaring. 

 

“Okay, kids. We’re all here now, so let’s get going,” Shuzo said. “Sawatari, lead the way.” 

 

While not the Center Court that Sawatari had arranged for his previous duel with Yuya, the court Professor Marco booked for them was still quite impressive and easily professional grade. That was what Shuzo had meant about it being a good experience for all of them. You Show’s new projector, won by Yuya in his match against Ishijima, was certainly top-notch, but their facility was designed for teaching, not tournament-level matches. The difference was subtle, but certainly present. 

 

“I feel a bit jealous now,” Yuzu admitted at a whisper, leaning over toward Rin as they stepped onto the dueling court. “Just standing on a field like this gets your heart pumping, right?” 

 

Looking across the wide expanse of the court and the observer gallery set high above, Rin had to agree. Just standing there gave the duel a different feeling than any in the slums. And the Duel Palace would be even larger, even more impressive — it really was enough to make her heart pound. 

 

“Yeah,” she whispered back, smiling. 

 

Yuzu gave her hand an encouraging squeeze before heading out to the gallery with the rest of their group, leaving Rin and Sawatari alone on the field. 

 

“Should we wait for that professor guy?” Rin called to him. 

 

“Hmph! If he’s so careless he can’t make it on time, he doesn’t deserve to watch my glorious duel!” Sawatari declared. He smirked, holding up two decks. “Just so you know, it won’t go like last time! I analyzed our duel and prepared a perfect counter strategy! One for you, and one for Sakaki — but since he’s chickened out, I guess only you’ll get to experience my brilliance first hand!” 

 

A special deck based on analyzing the opponent — if he could really run it, that was actually somewhat impressive, Rin admitted, even if it wasn’t a method she herself would be interested in. So much of a duelist’s strength came from the bond with their deck and from knowing it inside out. Running a tailored analysis deck spoke highly of his basic drawing and card playing skills. 

 

Well, if he could run it well, that is. 

 

Putting away one deck, he slid the other into his duel disk. With a glance up to the gallery to make sure the others had made it there, Rin mirrored him. 

 

“Duel!” 

 

The Real Solid Vision projector, set up ahead of time, whirled to life and the holographic field glimmered to life around them. 

 

“I’ll take the first turn!” Rin declared. “I draw!” 

 

~.~.~

 

“Go, Rin! Get fired up!” Shuzo yelled to the duelists below, waving energetically. Even though it wasn’t even aimed at him, Sawatari smirked up at the stands, flipping back his hair and posing a little as he played a card flashily. 

 

“He really did change his deck completely,” Yuzu noted. “So that’s what an anti-Synchro deck would look like...” 

 

It was certainly getting on Rin’s nerves, judging by her frustrated scowl. 

 

“That won’t do,” she muttered. Cupping her hands, she called out, “Rin! Smile, smile! Are you really going to show the audience that kind of face? That’s not entertaining at all!” 

 

“I dunno, I think it’s pretty funny,” Sora said, making Yuzu huff. 

 

“Making the audience laugh at you isn’t the same as making them smile with you,” Yuzu shot back. Pointedly, she added, “Right, Yuya?” 

 

“Huh? Oh, right,” Yuya agreed distractedly. 

 

He could feel the thoughtful and worried looks boring into him from all sides, but he wasn’t sure how to respond. He couldn’t put into words what had been eating at him recently, and without being able to explain it, he couldn’t even start to ask for advice. 

 

And, honestly, he felt a bit bad about distracting Yuzu and Shuzo. There was no telling when Rin would return to her world, so every moment they could spend with her was important. It wasn’t like Yuya’s problems couldn’t wait. 

 

Maybe it was even something he needed to solve for himself. His own dueling and also... Pendulum. 

 

He sighed again. 

 

The battle below was heating up, thankfully drawing attention off him. "Spread those wondrous and beautiful wings, and strike down your enemies at the speed of light! Synchro Summon!” Rin declared, finally managing to get her ace — her friend’s ace — on the field. “Appear now! Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!"

 

Something about the dragon’s roar seemed to resonate in Yuya’s chest. Was it really another dimension’s counterpart to his Odd Eyes? 

 

Sawatari laughed like a children’s show villain. “Wahahaha! I knew you’d do that! I activate my trap! Synchro Ejection! I can select one Synchro Monster you control, and remove it from play! I select Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon!” 

 

Rin screeched in rage as her dragon shattered into light. 

 

Next to him, Yuzu palmed her face. “That’s... that’s not entertainment dueling at all,” she muttered. “C’mon, Rin. Stop looking like you’re going to kill him with your bare hands.” 

 

That was a very accurate description of Rin’s expression, and if it had been Yuya facing her... he would have already turned tail and run for his life. Sawatari was either a braver man or a stupider one, given that he was still crowing about his successful strategy. 

 

By his trap’s effect, Rin drew a card and glared at her hand, trying to decide on what she could do with the remainder of her turn. 

 

Despite Yuzu’s well-founded complaints about their showmanship, Rin and Sawatari’s duel easily drew in everyone watching. Focused on Rin’s next move, they barely noticed when the door to the viewing gallery slid open and someone made their way inside. Only Sora darted a sharp, surreptitious glance at the new arrival, who moved to stand beside their group at the railing. 

 

As Rin placed a card face down and ended her turn, still glaring murder of Sawatari, everyone finally turned their attention to the new visitor, who had been waiting patiently. 

 

A Youth student? That would have been Yuya’s guess, based on his age. Had he been passing by and decided to drop by to observe a duel in progress? 

 

But that didn’t seem right. The young man showed no interest in the duel, instead of watching their group of spectators — watching him, Yuya thought. Noticing the same thing, Yuzu stepped forward. “Can we help you? Just so you know, we have permission to be here,” she said, raising her voice. 

 

The young man pushed up his glasses. “I know,” he said. “I gave that permission.” 

 

“Ah!” Shuzo let out a sound shock and recognition. “You! You’re Akaba Reiji!” 

 

‘That sounds familiar,’ Yuya thought. 

 

“The Leo Corporation CEO?” Yuzu caught on first, being more familiar with the big figures of the dueling world. “But you’re so...” 

 

Young. He had to be only a few years older than them. And if Yuya remember right, he was also the youngest to ever gain entry into the professional leagues too. To think that he had already achieved this much... 

 

Yuzu cleared her throat awkwardly, flushing as she realized how her outburst sounded. 

 

“Thank you for arranging for that, and for the reward. It’s a big help for Rin,” Shuzo said, taking over. “But we, uh, weren’t expecting that you would come to watch in person.” 

 

“Is that really the case?” Reiji asked. “I would have expected you realize the purpose behind this offer.” 

 

They had — Yuzu and Shuzo had said it the day before. “Pendulum,” Yuya muttered, unable to quite suppress a twitch when Reiji’s unreadable gaze turned to him again. 

 

“That’s right,” he said. “The Leo Corporation and I have a strong interest in Pendulum Summoning, which only you possess, Sakaki Yuya. At least, that is the situation for now.” 

 

“You want Pendulum Summoning for yourself,” Yuya said. Reaching up, he wrapped his hand around his pendulum necklace and gripped it tightly until the edges of the crystal and the wings pressed into his hand. 

 

He squirmed as Reiji studied him silently for a long moment. “No,” the CEO said finally. “Our aim is to spread Pendulum to everyone. We believe that Pendulum has the potential to become the next evolution of dueling... just like the Action Duels your father pioneered with the help of Leo Corporation and the previous CEO.” 

 

“Dad did?” Yuya said in surprise, glancing over at Shuzo for confirmation. 

 

The coach nodded slowly. “Yeah... Yusho worked with the previous CEO, Akaba Leo, to develop Real Solid Vision and Action Fields,” he said. “They were friends. And then Yusho went on to create his entertainment dueling style using Action Duels. He always said that meeting Akaba Leo changed the course of his fate and inspired his vision of dueling.” 

 

Yuya hadn’t known that. He had always known his father had been a famous duelist, but he hadn’t expected him to be so deeply tied to the history — the kind of history that would go in textbooks — of dueling. 

 

Sakaki Yusho had been a great man, who possessed a vision that he made reality. 

 

Compared to that, Yuya was... 

 

“That’s right. Action Duels changed the face of dueling, and Pendulum Summoning can do the same,” Reiji said. “But only if it is able evolve further. For that purpose, we want to work together with you, and push the limits of Pendulum. Will you accept, Sakaki Yuya?” 

 

Yuya jumped a little as all attention turned to him again. “Uh... um...” he meandered. 

 

Again, Reiji studied him silently. Letting out a quiet breath just short of a sigh, he pushed up his glasses, the lenses glinting. “What makes you hesitate? If you’re concerned about compensation, rest assured that Leo Corporation can provide more than enough. Or... Do you wish to keep Pendulum yours alone?” 

 

His remained completely even, but the accusation was unmistakeable. 

 

Was he wrong? Yuya wasn’t sure. Did he want to keep Pendulum to himself? It was something that finally made his dueling come together and stand out. It made people pay attention to his duels. It made him special, in some way. It was his signature as a performer, the first one he could really claim. 

 

Chewing his lip, he avoided Reiji’s unyielding gaze. 

 

“You should know that’s not possible,” Reiji went on bluntly. “An innovation will always be copied. And even if it was, how long do you think it will take before your opponents come up with counters to shut down that advantage? But if you work with us, you can keep advancing and remain on the forefront of dueling.” 

 

“Wait a minute!” Yuzu jumped in, stepping forward to put herself between Yuya and Reiji. “You might be right about that, but Yuya doesn’t need your help to develop Pendulum Summoning further! He can do that himself!” 

 

...Could he, really? Yuzu’s faith in him made a small smile tug at his lips, but Yuya couldn’t say he shared it. 

 

“When you say that it’s not possible for Yuya to keep Pendulum to himself, what you mean is you’ve already started developing your own Pendulum cards, right?” Shuzo said, more calmly. “So it’s just a matter of time before they become available to LDS and then duelists everywhere.” 

 

Reiji didn’t deny it, the faint inclination of his head giving away that Shuzo was correct. “Even if we weren’t, others would do so,” he said. 

 

“Are you making an offer or a threat?” Shuzo asked, unimpressed. 

 

“It’s up to you how you wish to interpret it,” Reiji replied. “Nothing I said is incorrect or untruthful. You can either work with us and take Pendulum Summoning even further, as its rightful creator, or we will evolve it without you. Make your choice.” 

 

For the first time, Reiji raised his voice, just enough to emphasize his ultimatum. The choice should have been clear, but—

 

Shuzo clapped a hand down on Yuzu’s shoulder, stopping her from protesting. “We’ll think about it,” he said evenly, with all his experience as a former pro-duelist who had received enough offers in his day. “Thank you for the offer, and the duel.”

 

He was right. The bell signaling the end of the duel blared, and Rin’s victorious smirk was displayed before the Action Field began to dissolve. She turned to wave to them, only to hesitate, eyes narrowing, as she caught sight of their group’s tense stance and the stranger with them. 

 

“We’ll leave Rin’s paperwork to you in the meantime,” Shuzo added. “Good bye.” 

 

Akaba Reiji only watched them silently as they skirted around him and quickly stepped out the door.

 

~.~.~

 

The sun was setting, painting the sky above Maiami and the city itself in deep, vibrant colors. The domed walls of the dueling stadium gleamed in the warm light, like another sun sinking beneath the waves. 

 

Yuya kept his gaze fixed out across the water, even when Rin pulled herself onto the railing beside him. “You know,” he said, after a few moments of silence, “Yuzu usually leaves me alone when I’m here. I like coming to this place to think.” 

 

“You mean to brood,” Rin corrected. “When Yugo goes off to stare dramatically across the water, in my experience all he really needs is a good punch.”

 

She raised a fist as if to demonstrate, making Yuya lean away. “You’re even more ruthless than Yuzu,” he muttered. “How does he put up with you?” 

 

Rin ignored his complaints. “You’ve been brooding all afternoon. Are you any closer to figuring it out?” she asked. “Because if not, you might as well stop not and try something else. You’re not getting anywhere.” As Yuya heaved a sigh, she turned back to the river and the stadium beyond, and the two of them sat in silence for several long moments. “You know,” Rin said slowly, “there’s a place like that in the City, where I’m from. A dueling stadium on the water.” 

 

Surprised and curious at the change of topic, Yuya glanced at her from the corner of his eye. With a softer, almost wistful expression on her face, she looked more like Yuzu than ever. 

 

“It’s called the Duel Palace, and it’s where the Friendship Cup happens every year,” she went on. “All the duel there are Riding Duels. I told you about those, right?” 

 

“Dueling on motorcycles,” Yuya said, nodding. 

 

“They’re D-Wheels, it’s different,” Rin grumbled, scowling a little. “They have a special engine, and... forget it, that’s not important. The important part is — Riding Duels were created by us Commons. Racing around side by side with our monsters, it was a way we could feel free. Drove the Tops nuts, I hear. It was our own style of dueling.” 

 

Even though she wasn’t watching, Yuya nodded. He could understand that. Dueling with your monsters — that sounded like Action Duels, which always had a special feeling to them, even without Action Cards. 

 

“But then Security took it from us. They made Duel Chasers to hunt down anyone who did Riding Duels without permits, and they even started showing the chases on TV, for the Tops to watch and laugh at,” she said, a scowl marring her face. “We couldn’t even duel without being some joke to the Tops.” 

 

‘Oh,’ Yuya thought. He could see the parallel she was drawing. The Riding Duels that the Commons had created for themselves had been taken from them, like Leo Corporation was going to copy and take Pendulum from him. 

 

But unlike Rin, he couldn’t get angry at the thought. Because... 

 

“Well, it’s not like I’m saying no one else except us Commons should ever Riding Duel,” Rin went on. Looking down at the river, she kicked legs absently. She was wearing a pair of Yuzu’s sneakers and the sweatpants from one of her tracksuits. “It’s just... I want Riding Duels to still belong to us. I just want us to ride with pride, not get chased and always have some camera on our backs.

 

“And, you know, I think it’s becoming kind of like that. Like Riding Duels are something Commons can be proud — because of the King.” 

 

“The King...” Yuya repeated. It sounded familiar. 

 

“Jack Atlas,” Rin said. “I told you guys before. He’s the greatest duelist in the world and the pride of the City. But he’s also the pride of the Commons ‘cause he’s from Commons himself. He took on the Friendship Cup and won three years ago. And he’s never lost since.” 

 

‘Never lost? That’s crazy,’ Yuya thought. ‘I don’t think there’s anyone like that in our world.’ He kind of wanted to see that king duel now. It had to be an amazing show. 

 

“When you think about Riding Duels now, you’re gonna think of the King and his Wheel of Fortune. A guy from Commons became the leader of Riding Duels, so it’s like... we got them back,” Rin said. She leaned back, balancing precariously on the railing as she stared up at the darkening sky. “So now we don’t need to be mad about them being taken away. We can think about how cool it is that we’ve got Dueling Lanes all over the City and that we have the Friendship Cup. Me and Yugo, we can be proud to build a D-Wheel as Commons and race as much as we want, even if the Tops are watching.” 

 

Sitting up straight again, she rubbed her head, expression uncertain as she tried to convey what her story meant. 

 

“You get what I’m trying to say? I think, yeah, those corporation guys are going to copy your cards, but that just means you should be the best at Pendulum,” Rin said. “Then it’s still going to be yours.” 

 

Yuya nodded slowly. “Yeah,” he said. “I get that. That guy, Reiji, said the same thing. I just have to keep pushing Pendulum further, go past its limits. ...But I don’t know if I can.” 

 

“Oh.” Rin turned away, almost comically quickly. “Yeah, you’re gonna have to talk to Yuzu about that.” 

 

Choking on his spit, Yuya ended up coughing harshly. “W-what? Just like that?” 

 

“I’m not good at this self esteem stuff!” Rin protested, a faint but noticeable flush high on her cheeks. “Yugo’s the kind of idiot who thinks he’s never wrong, so...! J-just ask Yuzu, she’ll tell you that you can totally do it.” 

 

“You’re the one who came out here to talk to me,” Yuya grumbled under his breath, “and now you’re just chickening out?” 

 

“I’m not chickening out!” Rin said, deeply offended. Despite her deeply uncomfortable expression, she tried, “I’m sure you can do it. You’re the one who made Pendulum in the first place, right?” 

 

“I wonder about that,” he said. A note of bitterness crept into his voice. “Did I really? I don’t remember doing it. I didn’t plan to. I don’t know how I did. After the match with Ishijima, I couldn’t even figure out how to do it again. Maybe it wasn’t really me at all. Maybe it was really someone else, somewhere else, and I just...” 

 

He trailed off as Rin held up a hand and shook her head. 

 

“Okay, stop, stop,” she commanded. “You’re kind of a downer, aren’t you?”  

 

“Am not,” Yuya muttered. Rin ignored him. 

 

She tapped one foot, thinking deeply. “Look, there’s no way to find out where Pendulum came from,” she said. “At least, that’s how it sounds to me. So there’s no point in worrying about it. Even if you... I dunno, crossed wires with some master duelist in another reality and copied it from them, what does it matter? You can’t do anything about that, and it’s here now. So what you need to decide is — do you want to make Pendulum yours? Do you want everybody to think of Sakaki Yuya when they think of Pendulum Summoning?” 

 

Did he? Pendulum — brilliant and shining, amazing and powerful. It felt so natural, when he used it. And, he admitted somewhat pettily, that name... He did want it. 

 

Letting out a deep, slow breath, Yuya lifted his head and smiled. “I’ll make Pendulum mine,” he said, trying the words out. “My... Pendulum.” He liked the sound of it. Grinning, he jumped to his feet — balancing on top of the railing and spreading his arms wide. “Ladies and gentlemen! May I present to you, the unparalleled entertainment dueling style that draws an arc through the heavens! Sakaki Yuya’s Pendulum Summoning!”

 

“Whoo!” Rin cheered blandly, clapping along. 

 

He wasn’t confident in his acrobatics to try a bow, especially as the wind started to pick up. The sky was mostly dark now, the first stars shining through. If he had been left alone, Yuya would have stayed longer, until the night chill left him shivering and forced him home.

 

But he had something to focus on now. The LDS tower already glowed brightly on the other side of the city. Yuya needed to think about what he’d say, or he’d just end up stammering uselessly again — and get completely played. That’s how scammers worked, not that he thought the Leo Corporation was out to scam him, exactly. Maybe he’d ask his mom for advice, or Coach... 

 

Slipping off the railing as well, Rin waffled next to him. “You know, you don’t have to work with that guy,” she said finally, steadily looking away from Yuya. “Yuzu’s right. You can master Pendulum on your own. LIke me and Yugo built our own D-Wheel. Yuzu and Uncle Shuzo would help you. And me too.” 

 

“It’s okay. I want to try it,” Yuya said. “My dad worked with his dad, right? To create Action Dueling. I’ll do it too.” He winked. “And if they’re really making more Pendulum cards, I’ll get you guys early copies, how about that?”

 

Rin laughed. “Deal! I bet they’ll make a nice souvenir.” 

 

~.~.~


	10. 1:2 To each their own dream

**Notes:** Unfortunately, there’s some canon relationships that I can’t implement because they just don’t flow naturally from the changed timeline. But I hope seeing how things play out differently will at least be interesting. 

 

Also, I don’t know anything about cardgames, don’t ask me.

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 10: To each their own dream**

 

Yuzu sighed. Again. 

 

“Thirty six,” Sora muttered around the long spoon of his parfait. “This is really good. Wanna try some?” 

 

Licking away a carefully measured spoonful of her own shortcake, Rin gave his offer due consideration. On the one hand, the colorful fluffy monstrosity Sora had ordered looked delicious. On the other hand, was it perhaps too delicious for her? She and Yugo had never been able to afford anything like the deserts at the cute cafe Yuzu had taken them too. Even the beginner’s level slice of cake required pacing herself to avoid becoming overwhelmed by its sweetness and flavor.  

 

“Better not,” she decided. “It's too good. We don't have anything like this back home.” Not in the Commons slums, at least. Tops, she supposed, would have lots of delicious things. 

 

“I know, right?” Sora agreed enthusiastically, scooping up another spoonful. “‘M gonna order another! Okay, Yuzu?” 

 

Yuzu, who was footing the bill for their outing, heaved a deep sigh — but not because of the mounting bill. Her attention was clearly elsewhere as she stared out into the street blankly. 

 

“Thir-ty sev-ven,” Sora chanted. 

 

Losing patience, Rin kicked her under the table. 

 

Yuzu’s elbowed slipped as she jerked, leaving to almost faceplant into the table. “What? What was that for?” she demanded, looking around with a slightly wild expression. 

 

“You've been sighing like a broken air con all day,” Rin said bluntly. “Cut it out.” 

 

“I, I have not!” Yuzu protested, as Sora burst into helpless laughter. Her indignation cracked into sheepish uncertainty. “Have I?” 

 

“B-broken air con!” Sora wheezed. Clutching at his stomach, he was nearly folding in two. “At least say she's sighing like a lovelorn maiden!” 

 

“Soap opera heroine,” Rin compromised. Sora raised a shaky hand in acknowledgement. 

 

Eyes narrowing dangerously, Yuzu said, “Oh, you two think you're so funny.” But she couldn't quite hide the amused twitch of her lips. She sighed again. “I just... I guess I'm just worried about Yuya.” 

 

“Thirty eight,” Sora muttered. Before she could ask, he went on, “I don't think that Akaba guy is going to hurt him. I mean, he might be a glasses wearing creep, but he's not that kind of creep. Probably... I hope. But maybe we should go with him next time, just in case.” 

 

“Yeah, just in case,” Yuzu agreed, chewing her lip. 

 

Ridiculous. “You can just say you miss him,” Rin said. “It's okay to wanna go with him because you’re lonely.” 

 

Sora choked on his parfait, snorting with amusement, while Yuzu flushed. She waved her hands frantically in protest. “I'm, I'm not lonely! I'm here with you guys! I'm happy to be! So I'm definitely not lonely!”

 

Rin didn't say anything to that, shrugging indifferently. She didn't need to say anything. 

 

Sighing again, Yuzu drooped. “It’s not that I miss him, exactly,” she admitted. “It’s not like we’re always together to begin with. It’s more that... it feels like we’re not moving side by side anymore. He’s going forward at full speed, and I can’t help — or move forward on my own either. I don’t know if that makes any sense...” 

 

It did, but even Rin had enough sense not to say outloud what Yuzu was skirting around — that she felt left behind. 

 

Yuzu sighed. 

 

“Aaaand thirty nine,” Sora counted. He looked like he was going to say something else, but his gaze fell behind Yuzu and he paused. “Huh. Speak of the devil... Yuya! Over here!” 

 

Rin and Yuzu both turned, staring in surprise. Sora’s sharp eyes were right — there, running toward them, was the very subject of their discussion. Swerving past a businessman and ducking between a young couple, Yuya rushed up to their table. “I... finally found... you guys!” he panted, bending over with hands on his knees. “I was looking... everywhere!” 

 

“Rin went an entire match without glaring at me, so Yuzu took us out for a reward,” Sora explained around another bite. “So what happened? You’re done pretty early.” 

 

“How was it?” Yuzu asked, pulling up another chair which Yuya gratefully dropped into. 

 

Yuya chuckled, a little brittle. “Ah... I guess you’d call it complete annihilation? A total massacre?” he said, wincing. “He said that since we’re duelists, we should start off by dueling. And... yeah.” 

 

“He totally wrecked you, huh?” Rin guessed. 

 

“Actually, the duel got called off because of an error in the system,” Yuya said. “But that just means I was spared from a one turn kill. He was just... He used every summoning method, you know? Fusion, Xyz, Synchro... In one turn, he did all of them. And then he did Pendulum too.” 

 

“Did he take your cards like Sawatari?” Yuzu wondered. 

 

“No, he wanted to show me how far they’ve gotten with developing their own cards. Which is when the system errored. So, not good enough to use yet,” Yuya said, waving his hand. “They need more data, so that’s why he’s arranging the duels I need to qualify for the championship, and they’ll record the data from them to make the cards more stable. The first one’s in a couple days.” 

 

Yuzu frowned, watching him closely. He seemed upbeat enough, if distracted, but how much of that was just an act? Reaching out, she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. 

 

“Yuya, are you okay? That must have been a rough match for you...” 

 

He blinked at her in surprise. “She means you normally go mope at this point,” Rin said. 

 

“Oh! Yeah,” Yuya said, laughing self-consciously. “I... I would probably do that. But Reiji said... I asked him why he even needed me, if he could already do all that. Actually, it’s more like I yelled at him... Anyway, he said that... he thinks I have potential.” 

 

Yuya paused, as if still not sure what to make of that.  

 

“You do,” Yuzu agreed. 

 

He flashed her a quick smile. “It’s different hearing it from a guy like that. I can’t really explain it but... it kind of pissed me off,” he said. 

 

Rin and Sora choked, exchanging a wide eyed look. It was hard to imagine Yuya getting angry like that. Neither of them saw him as, well, having much of a spine. 

 

Yuzu kicked them both under the table. 

 

“It’s like anything I do, he’s already decided it’s all part of his plans. He said he wanted to work together to develop Pendulum, but actually it’s more like I’m working for him,” Yuya went on, too deep in his stewing thoughts to pay them mind. He really was irritated, a red flush of anger rising on his cheeks. “I said I’d make Pendulum mine, but at this rate, I’ll get completely upstaged before I even have a chance to try!”  

 

Still, no matter how frustrated, Yuya wasn’t the type to be pushed forward by anger or spite and maintaining negative emotions like that didn’t come naturally to him. Sighing, he slumped a little. 

 

“I, uh, kind of stormed off after that,” he admitted. “But while I was walking around I thought... I want to surprise him. I want to totally shock him. He completely took me off guard with all four summoning methods. I want to do that too! That’s why I came looking for you.”  

 

Yuya stood suddenly, sending his chair skidding back. “Rin! Sora!” he exclaimed, staring at them with a surprising intensity. “Teach me how to Fusion and Synchro summon!” 

 

A moment of silence that stretched on. 

 

“Um... what?” Yuzu asked finally, for all of them. 

 

“Aren’t you supposed to be mastering Pendulum?” Rin added. 

 

“No, listen! Reiji expects me to just duel these people he’s lining up,” Yuya insisted, “and give him data for their new Pendulum cards. But I don’t have to just go along with what he’s planning. I bet he’ll be super shocked if I pull out a Fusion summon or a Synchro summon in my match! Just like I was shocked when he pulled out all those summons all at once!” 

 

“So you want to copy his trick,” Sora summarized. “Shocking! The multi-method summon spectacular! Only here, presented by the great Sakaki Yuya! ...Like that?” 

 

“Don’t call it copying! It’s just... creative inspiration!” Yuya complained. 

 

“It’s turnabout payback,” Sora said. He grinned. “I like it! OK, I’ll teach you — if you teach me Pendulum summoning!” 

 

“Are you still on about that?” Yuya said. But unlike before, he barely gave it thought before shrugging in acceptance. “Sure. Once the cards are out, I’ll show you the basics. Everyone’s going to learn anyway, right? So let’s go!” 

 

“Eh? Right now?” Sora protested, glancing toward his unfinished parfait. 

 

But it was too late. Yuya’s hand had clamped down on his wrist, and he dragged Sora out of his chair, regardless of the younger boy’s protests. “I need to master Fusion before my first match!” Yuya said, already starting down the street. “Rin! Let’s do Synchro after, for the second match, okay?” 

 

“Oh... sure,” Rin agreed. Smirking a little at Sora’s distraught expression and futile struggles, she waved to them. 

 

“I hope Sora will be okay,” Yuzu said, more sympathetically. “Yuya works hard when he sets his mind on something. He and Gongenzaka trained all night through to figure out Pendulum in the first place.” 

 

“It’s fine. Sora’s tougher than he looks,” Rin said — which wasn’t necessarily much of a compliment. Sora looked very cute and almost delicate, even if he was indeed much tougher than that. 

 

Pulling over Sora’s abandoned parfait, she stirred it with the long spoon. Expression somewhat dubious, she finally scooped up a bite... and shuddered through her entire body as it hit her tongue. 

 

Too sweet! Way too sweet!

 

~.~.~

 

“Welcome!” the young man behind the counter called out as Yuzu and Rin stepped into her favorite game shop. He smiled at Yuzu in greeting, recognizing her at least in passing, but he did an obvious double take as he got a good at Rin and realized how similar they were. 

 

“Do you have any Windwitch cards?” Rin asked, looking around at the displays with interest. 

 

“Windwitch... I don’t think I’ve heard of that archetype before,” the clerk admitted. “Do you want me to go check?” 

 

“Please,” Rin agreed. 

 

“Windwitch?” Yuzu repeated, as he turned to the computer and pulled up their inventory. “You run a Speedroid deck though.”

 

“This is Yugo’s deck, I told you, right?” Rin said. “I built my deck around burn damage from low level monsters... which is about the one thing Clear Wing can’t counter too well... so it doesn’t suit Clear Wing. There wouldn’t be much point in Yugo giving me an ace I couldn’t even use much, so we just switched decks completely. I know his deck and strategies inside and out, so I can play it pretty well.” She paused. “He can play mine too, but he’ll probably get all weird about it.” 

 

Windwitch was an awfully cute deck for a guy like Yugo. Seeing him get burned by such cute monsters had held a certain appeal to Rin, but she hoped he’d get over it if he needed to duel while she had his deck. 

 

“Anyway, I thought I’d try picking up some cards for myself while I’m here,” she concluded, shrugging. “I’ve been thinking of a few new strategies to try when I get back.”

 

“You two must be really close,” Yuzu said. “I’ve dueled Yuya so many times, but I don’t know if I could use his deck if we switched. Well, especially not now...” 

 

She sighed, earning a dry look from Rin. 

 

“Sorry, sorry,” Yuzu said quickly. “It’s just... I wonder if I should try learning Xyz.” 

 

“I guess it would be the easiest to pick up,” Rin admitted, though her expression was less than enthusiastic. “You don’t need a magic card like Fusion or a special monster like Synchro, just the Extra Deck monster you’re summoning, right?” She frowned. “But you know, just because Yuya is—” 

 

“Excuse me!” Yuzu spoke up to get the clerk’s attention. “Could I have a look at your Xyz cards? Fairy type or Light attribute especially.” 

 

He smiled. “Of course, one moment please. Regarding Windwitch, I’m afraid we don’t have any in stock, but here is the listing of cards in that archetype. Please let me know if you would like to order anything for pickup.” He held out a tablet to Rin. 

 

As she scrolled through it, he quickly pulled up Yuzu’s request as well. “Could you send it to my duel disk?” she asked, pulling out the device. “I’ll compared it to my deck later.” 

 

“Certainly! And you, miss?” 

 

“I’m good,” Rin decided. She handed the tablet back. “I’ll need to save up before getting anything anyway.” 

 

As they stepped back out into the street, Yuzu glanced at her. “You know, I don’t mind, I can...” 

 

“No way,” Rin declared. “I’ll get a part time job or something. I’ve done that loads of times. They’re my cards, so... Besides, none of it was super good or anything, just a bit of fine tuning.” She shrugged. “It’s almost exactly the same set of cards as back home, just with a couple Fusion and Xyz higher level monsters. That’s cool, but I think I’ll stick with Synchro.” 

 

Switching summoning styles would attract too much attention in her own dimension, and not even just the way Yuya did. She hated to admit it, but Rin felt a curl of fear when trying to imagine what Security or some Tops lunatic’s reaction might be, if she started using a style no one else knew. 

 

Shaking away the thought, she turned to Yuzu. “Are you really going to pick up Xyz?” she asked. “To teach Yuya later?” 

 

“It’s not just that,” Yuzu said. “I’m doing it for myself too. I realized I’ve gotta step up my game, as a duelist and as an entertainer. I don’t know if Xyz is the way to do it, but I have to start somewhere. I just wish there was someone I could ask to teach me. Dad might know the basics, but I know he doesn’t use it himself...” 

 

“You brought it on yourself,” Rin said without much sympathy.

 

“M-maybe I picked wrong...”

 

Rin chuckled. “Well, you could try dueling an Xyz user,” she said. “Facing a strategy really gives you a feel for it. That’s how Yugo and I learned most of our dueling, actually.” 

 

“An Xyz user... that’ll have to be an LDS student or graduate. There’s no one else, really,” Yuzu said, thinking.

 

“That makes it easy then,” Rin said. “Just go to their tower and go, ‘Hey, you losers! Your Xyz sucks! I’ll take you all on!’ And you’ll have plenty of fodder—” 

 

“Are you crazy? I can’t do that!” 

 

“—Or how about one of those guys?” 

 

“Those uniforms are from the master class! That’s even crazier!” 

 

Rin only laughed when Yuzu shoved at her ineffectually. But as they continued to roughhouse lightly, she couldn’t help glancing back at the blue-jacketed LDS elites hurrying away in the opposite direction. ‘They’re pretty worked up,’ she thought absently. ‘I wonder what’s up with them?’ 

 

It probably had nothing to do with her. 

 

~.~.~


	11. 1:2 What you know now

—————

 

**Notes:** You’ll notice the duel here is copied from the anime except a change at the end. Dueling is hard? and terrible?? Incidentally, this was also the first time I had to delete a large chunk of my writing for this story and redo it. I decided that we should actually advance the plot somewhat. The “””plot”””

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 11: What you know now**

 

The location of Shun’s first attack had been sealed off, thick tarps hiding the caved wall of the thankfully abandoned building and the other damage his Real Solid Vision had done during his duel with the LDS professor. Passersby glanced at the closed area in curiosity, whispering to each other. Most of them seemed to assume it was just some construction, but the LDS elites ducking in and out gave away the true nature of what had occurred. 

 

Yuto had watched when they first arrived and when they discovered the teacher’s card. Their confusion and growing horror — it had been painfully familiar, making his gut twist in guilt and remembered pain. 

 

Despite being LDS’s top graduates, they really didn’t know anything. The teacher at least seemed to recognize something of what was going on, his surprise at the real damage of Shun’s monsters too muted for someone of this dimension. But even he hadn’t reacted the way an Academia soldier would. 

 

‘Were we wrong after all? Do they have no connection to Academia?’ Yuto wondered not for the first time, gritting his teeth. 

 

That couldn’t be, not when they were led by Akaba Leo’s family. Not when the similarities were so strong. ...Right? 

 

If there was a chance, even a slim one, that they were mistaken and killing innocent people — they couldn’t just go on, not even to get at the Professor... or even to save Ruri. Ruri wouldn’t have agreed with this. 

 

Ruri wouldn’t have agreed with this even if LDS was part of Academia. She had never wanted to hurt anyone or use duels to spread fear and suffering. Duels were meant to make people smile, she always said, as she’d learned from her friends at Clover Branch. Before the invasion, it had even softened Shun’s pride. 

 

Ruri wasn’t here anymore. Whatever she would have wanted, her wishes couldn’t reach them now. 

 

But. 

 

‘...I don’t want to hurt anyone either,’ Yuto thought. It was a pointless, selfish feeling, because he wanted Ruri back too and, in the end, her safety and an end to the war meant more to him than the lives of others. All he did was end up pushing the burden onto Shun, who was likely choosing his next target even now. 

 

One teacher wouldn’t be enough to force Akaba Leo’s family to act. Knowing Shun, the next targets would be the elites investigating the teacher’s disappearance, now that they had reported in. 

 

...The elites who didn’t know anything, who glanced around with the fear and uncertainty of those being hunted, who discussed in hushed, worried tones if they should check on all the students. 

 

This was wrong. But what other plan did they have? How else could they get Ruri back? And even more than that, if this plan worked and they reached Academia’s leader, they would have a chance to take him out and end the war completely. Wasn’t that worth it? 

 

Was it? It had to be. Otherwise...

 

Down below, the LDS team finally moved to clear the premises, and Yuto pressed himself deeper into the shadows of the neighboring building. He was barely in time, the edge of his cloak fluttering in the shadows, but they didn't notice, lacking the honed paranoia and senses created by live combat.

 

"—I will keep the president and the chairwoman appraised of the situation," the leader was saying. "But for now, all we can do is keep patrolling and look for any other suspicious activity. You have the schedules. Be careful, and stay together. Whatever happened, it looks like Professor Marco was defeated, so the opponent is likely too much for anyone to handle alone."

 

Pairing up wouldn't help them. Shun was experienced against multiple opponents, and if anything, having more monsters on the opponent's field would make the effect of his Revolution Falcon stronger.

 

"Tio," one of the others spoke up uncertainly, "what do you think that was? That creepy card?"

 

"If they had time to make that, they must have been planning it for a while," another LDS member said, his fists clenching. "And Professor Marco... was he abducted?"

 

"There's no way to know that now," the leader said firmly. "Just stick together, and keep an eye out. We’ll find whoever is behind this, whether it’s some messed up joke or something more serious. And we’ll find Professor Marco too. We’re LDS’s elite team, after all."

 

He offered his subordinates a confident, encouraging smile. 

 

But as he watched their departing backs, his expression dropped into a furrowed, worried frown, the kind that made a person look years older. It was the look the Resistance leaders often wore — had worn, when there was still anyone who could act as a leader. 

 

Yuto remained pressed into the small shadowed alcove of his hiding place long after even the LDS team leader’s footsteps had faded away. “This... This isn’t right,” he muttered out loud what he had been thinking all along. “There has to be another way. I have to tell Shun...” 

 

But what if there wasn’t another way? Or worse... what if Kurosaki didn’t care? 

 

He shook his head sharply. Trying would at least be better than being so useless. 

 

If he hurried, he could still catch Shun before he made his next move. They could do something, anything with the LDS members — take their cards, their duel disks, their badges... Surely the teacher’s card alone would be enough to show Akaba Leo’s family what this was all about. 

 

He started to move out of his hiding place, dropping down into the narrow alley between two buildings, when he sensed another presence approaching. It was close — he had been too distracted, even for a peaceful world like this. Pulling back into the shadows quickly, Yuto watched as a boy a little younger than him stopped in front of the sealed building and casually glanced around. 

 

His jacket was the same shade of blue and a similar cut to the LDS elite uniforms. A student come to gawk? Or even try their hand at amateur investigation? 

 

‘I don’t have time for this,’ Yuto thought. He needed to find Shun quickly. 

 

Glancing toward the boy, who was using his foot to turn over some of the glass shards and rubble thrown into the street during Shun’s duel, Yuto weighed his options and came to a decision. He tugged up the collar of his cloak to hide his mask and quickly stepped out of the dead end alley.  

 

But before he could take more than a couple of hurried steps down the street, the boy called out to him. 

 

“Hey, you! Do you know what happened here?” 

 

It was a simple enough question, easily deflected with a lie — but something about the boy’s tone made Yuto tense. He didn’t question it. Those instincts had saved him countless times in the last year. 

 

Without warning or hesitation, he burst into a sprint. 

 

If the boy had been a civilian, Yuto would have easily lost him. But his instincts had been right. Whoever he was, this boy’s reactions were too honed and immediate for any ordinary person, even an LDS student. Despite Yuto’s height advantage and the sharp, confusing turns he took through the back alleys, the sound of footsteps behind him didn’t fade. 

 

It didn’t gain either. Being chased was all too familiar to Heartland’s survivors, and they knew how to stay one step ahead. It was possible he could lose him... 

 

‘No,’ Yuto decided. ‘I need to find out who he is. He’s not with LDS. Is he with Academia?’ 

 

Arrogance was a quick way to get yourself killed, but against just one opponent, Yuto had confidence in his skills. 

 

They had made it to the abandoned part of the warehouse district, massive derelict structures lining up on either side. Picking one at random, Yuto threw himself against a large, already half broken window, which shattered under his weight and momentum. He landed inside and continued inward, already turning to keep an eye on the opening he’d created. 

 

The boy’s silhouette paused in the window, doubtlessly searching for some trap. It was, but not in the way he thought. 

 

Silently, Yuto held up his arm and activated his duel disk, the solid hologram blade glowing faintly in the shadows where he’d retreated. 

 

“Oh-ho, so now that we’re done with tag, you want to duel?” the boy chuckled, strapping on his own duel disk. “You could have just said so. I’ll be happy to play with you~ I’ll go first!” 

 

His expression was shadowed, with the light behind him, but the edge of his wide smirk was all too obvious as he looked at the hand he had drawn. 

 

“I summon Edge Imp Tomahawk from my hand,” he declared, slapping a card down onto his disk’s blade, “and activate its effect. I discard Edge Imp Frightfuloid to inflict 800 points of damage to you! Hope you don’t mind if I start off serious!” 

 

Yuto didn’t respond or react. There wasn’t any need to — the duel disk not only looked like a normal Standard dimension one, but it seemed to behave the same way too, inflicting no physical damage even as his life points dropped to 3200. 

 

“I can’t attack, so I guess I’ll end my turn,” the boy said with an artificial cheerfulness. “Oh, by the way... I’m Sora. And you?” 

 

Yuto didn’t acknowledge the question. “I draw,” he said simply. 

 

Summon, then monster effect to special summon, then overlay to Xyz summon — it was a familiar cadence that Yuto flipped through rapidly. It was his opponent’s reaction to the sight of the swirling galaxy of overlay that he paid attention to. 

 

‘There’s no doubt about it,’ he thought. ‘He’s from Academia.’ The hungry, disdainful look was unmistakable. 

 

But that just meant there was no reason to hold back. “My Phantom Knights of Break Sword attacks Edge Imp Tomahawk. Battle!” Yuto declared. 

 

The damage was only 200 points, and ‘Sora’ weathered the backlash with little more than a grimace. Straightening, he pointedly brushed the dust of his shoulder and tried to meet Yuto’s gaze in challenge. 

 

“I set two cards face down and end my turn,” Yuto said. 

 

Sora snorted. “Is that it? Come on, give me a little more fun than that! This duel isn’t very entertaining at all.” He paused, amused at something in his own words, then shrugged. “Well, I guess someone like you wouldn’t know anything about that. I’ll just have to do it myself! I draw!” 

 

Even from a distance, Yuto recognized the magic card he held up — Polymerization. 

 

“I fuse Edge Imp Sabres and Fluffal Bear!” He clapped his hands together, as his summoned beast emerged, shredding aparts its innocuous toy half. “Fusion Summon! Appear, horrifying beast that shreds everything! Frightfur Bear!"

 

Its attack points were higher, and the outcome of its attack against Yuto’s Break Sword was obvious. Faced with a Fusion card, Yuto had somehow expected the situation to change and habitually braced himself against the damage to his life points. But the shockwave of his monster’s destruction passed over him harmlessly again. 

 

Quietly, Sora clicked his tongue. “Tch, I forgot to switch modes,” he muttered, tapping at his duel disk. “There’s no point in pretending now, is there? I don’t know how you go to this dimension, you Xyz scum, but I’ll send you where the rest of your miserable world is.” 

 

The threat of being turned into a card was no longer a surprise to Yuto or another to make him falter. But distantly, he wondered — where was that? Where did the cards of their stolen comrades go? That thought was mostly drowned out by a surge of cold, silent anger. 

 

“Break Sword’s effect activates as it leaves the field, letting me special summon all the monsters that were attached to it as Overlay Units,” Yuto declared, forcing down the tremor in his voice. This was it — the start of his counterattack. “Ancient Cloak" and Silent Boots are special summoned, and their levels become 4.”  

 

From the tilt of Sora’s head, he understood what two same level monsters on the field of an Xyz user meant. “I activate Frightfur Bear’s effect,” he said. “I equip the monster it destroyed and increase its attack points by that of the equipped monster, for 4200 total. How does it feel to have your own monster’s power work against you?” Receiving no response, he shrugged. “Fine, fine. I set one card and end my turn.” 

 

“Then let’s end this,” Yuto said, drawing a surprised and suddenly wary look — it was the first thing he’d said that wasn’t strictly necessary. “I overlay my two level 4 monsters to Xyz Summon. Descend — rank 4, Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!”

 

The gale winds of Dark Rebellion’s arrival tore through the warehouse, sending clouds of dust, shards of glass, and even small pieces of metal flying. The dragon roared, making everything tremble. 

 

Sora’s expression shifted, but not out of fear. If anything, he seemed puzzled. “Xyz Dragon...” he muttered, barely audible over the wind and the howling. 

 

“I activate Dark Rebellion’s effect. By detaching an overlay unit, I can halve the attack of a level 5 or higher monster you controls and add that amount to Dark Rebellion’s attack,” Yuto announced. 

 

One of the lights circling his dragon burst, and finally, that gnawing uncertainty began to creep over Sora’s face as his Frightfur Bear was chained by electricity, writhing and shrieking. 

 

‘How does it feel,’ Yuto thought in spiteful echo of Sora’s taunting, ‘to have your own monster’s power work against you?’

 

But there was no purpose in saying something like that, and in the face of Sora’s growing fear, he suddenly felt his anger drain away, leaving only a tired bitterness. He’d ends this quickly, if nothing else. “Again,” he said flatly. “I activate Dark Rebellion’s effect a second time.” 

 

The remaining overlay unit vanished, and Dark Rebellion roared again. 

 

From 2500 to 4600 to 5650 attack points, more than enough to wipe out both Frightfur Bear’s remaining 1050 and, with it, the entirety of Sora’s life points. 

 

“That’s, that’s not possible!” Sora protested weakly, taking a step back and another as he stared up at the looming form of Yuto’s dragon. “I can’t lose to some Xyz scum! I’m, I’m—” 

 

“Attack!” 

 

Desperation breaking through the shock of his broken pride, Sora cursed and leaped out of the way. He managed to avoid a direct hit from Dark Rebellion’s blast, which ripped through the wall of the warehouse and into the street beyond, even as his life points dropped to 0. Nonetheless, he hit the ground hard, sliding under the force of attack’s shockwaves. 

 

The flying rubble hit even Yuto, pinging against his mask and goggles. He moved swiftly toward his downed opponent, grabbing Sora by the collar before he could even get to his feet and reaching for his duel disk.  

 

“Get— off me!” Sora snarled, twisting and kicking at Yuto. 

 

Both of them grasped and pulled, ripping something away. 

 

Sora’s duel disk in hand, Yuto tossed him away and quickly tugged up the collar of his cloak to cover his suddenly bare face. It didn’t really matter, he supposed, not in this dimension. 

 

Or at least, it shouldn't have, but Sora’s expression had flashed to stunned recognition, and Yuto couldn't imagine why. 

 

“What is Academia planning here?” he asked gruffly, trying to cover up his own confusion. 

 

Covering up his own feelings as well, Sora glared and barked, “As if I’d just tell you my mission! Don’t think you beat me! I would never lose to Xyz scum like you if I was serious! I’ll crush you with me true power — with the power of Academia’s Fusion summoning!” 

 

‘A mission... Being here is part of a mission for him. No, even Academia’s presence here at all is a special mission only,’ Yuto deduced. What did that mean, about LDS, the Leo Corporation, and the Akaba family who owned them? Something wasn’t adding up. 

 

He stepped back quickly as Sora lunged for him, trying to snatch back his duel disk. Something like disarming an Academia soldier wouldn’t have been enough in Heartland, where they could easily get another duel disk and even another deck, but here in Standard dimension, it would serve as at least a temporary obstacle to whatever his mission was. 

 

It would give Yuto time to regroup — to find Shun and to figure out what it was they were missing. 

 

Ignoring Sora’s crescending curses and threats, he turned and vanished into the shadows. 

 

~.~.~


	12. 1:2 Undeniable outcome

**Notes:** It was at this point that I had to ask myself, ‘do we have Too Many povs up in here’ and ‘where the hell is the main character.’ Not good questions. Not good at all....

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 12: Undeniable outcome**

 

Despite his best efforts to project a facade of good cheer as usual, Sora could tell Yuya had noticed something off. It was annoying and unnecessary and pointless, and Sora tried to pretend that he didn’t feel anything else. The odd tightness in his chest at the earnest, misguided display was just a nuisance. 

 

Finally growing tired of it, Sora turned and squarely met Yuya’s next furtive glance. Yuya’s flustered sputtering at getting caught made him grin genuinely. 

 

“I hope you realize, as your teacher, I expect you to utterly crush those LDS losers,” Sora said. “If you mess it up... punishment game!” 

 

Yuya laughed as he mimed a punching gesture. “Got it, Teach!” he saluted. “I’ll leave them speechless with our Pendulum Fusion style!” 

 

“Shock and awe, I like it,” Sora nodded along. He paused — the feeling of being watched in that particular way had returned. Shooting Yuya an annoyed glare, he muttered, “Really? I just said to quit getting distracted!” 

 

“Sorry, sorry!” Yuya waved his hands placatingly. “It’s just... you know you can always ask us for help, right? We get it, you don’t want to talk about your past, and we won’t make you tell us. But if you’re in trouble, Yuzu and me, and Coach and Rin, we’d all help. ‘Cause you’re one of You Show’s students, one of us.” 

 

‘You are one of Academia’s finest soldiers,’ Sora had been told, when he received his orders. Yuya’s smile was tentative and encouraging, and he had absolutely no idea how wrong he was. Academia was where he trying belonged. All of this, the sweets, the entertainment dueling, the friendship games — it was all just a temporary pastime. And now that he had a target, that Xyz survivor, it was time to get serious. No matter what face that weakling wore. 

 

His grin didn’t seem to reassure Yuya, the worry in his would-be friend’s gaze only growing. Was Yuya just that intuitive toward others, or was Sora that rattled by having his deck and duel disk stolen? It was just a temporary setback, but it had been an inexcusable oversight on his part. 

 

It didn’t matter, he’d fix it but—

 

Biting his lip, Yuya shot him another worried look. 

 

Fortunately, the arrival of Yuya’s opponent cut short any other attempt at reassurance from him. The LDS student, a girl with long black hair and sharp eyes, was accompanied by none other than Akaba Reiji himself, whose cold, unreadable gaze swept over Yuya and Sora. 

 

He didn’t linger on either of them, but Sora couldn’t stop himself from tensing instinctively. 

 

The Professor hadn’t seen it fit to explain what relation he had with the Akaba family of Standard dimension — and there must have been some connection, for the Professor to assign Sora this special mission. But whoever Akaba Reiji really was, Sora knew he was dangerous. His calculating gaze was just like the Professors, and given Yuya’s account of their duel... 

 

LDS could very well become Academia’s enemy, if only because there could not be two rulers in the end, when all the dimensions were united into one. Whether they came into conflict sooner or later depended only on the level of their pride. 

 

“I’m Sakaki Yuya. Thank you for facing me today,” Yuya stepped forward with a smile, introducing himself. “Let’s have a great duel!” 

 

“Kotsu Masumi,” the girl replied curtly. Looking Yuya up and down, she smirked and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Try to make this worth my time — and the president’s time too.” 

 

She turned away without waiting for a response and headed to the opposite end of the dueling court. Sora stuck out his tongue at her back, and her steps as Yuya tried to muffle his laughter. He swore he could feel Akaba Reiji’s assessing gaze on his back as they made their way to the viewing gallery, but Sora only widened his bright, cheery grin and waved to Yuya on the field below. 

 

The hidden generator whirled to life, and the chosen Field spell materialized around the two duelists — a shimmering corridor gilded in pearl and studded with rainbow gems. 

 

Clapping his hands, Sora laughed. “Pretty! But I’d still prefer a candy palace.” 

 

‘Hmm... too thick?’ he wondered as his comments went completely ignored. 

 

Oddly, Masumi didn’t seem too pleased either. “I don’t need a home field advantage against some small school kid,” she muttered. “Do you have that little faith in the LDS Fusion Course, president?” 

 

“So you’re a Fusion user...” Yuya noted, unknowingly voicing Sora’s thoughts. “That’s perfect, then.” 

 

“We’ll see about that,” Masumi shot back. “I’m going first! I activate Gem-Knight Fusion to fuse Gem-Knight Emerald and Gem-Knight Tourmaline from my hand!”

 

She clapped her hands together, her monsters vanishing into whirlpool of light to bring forth a new dazzling radiance. Her monsters were certainly beautiful, matching to the Action Field around them — but Sora was far hardly impressed. Just like every Fusion user he’d seen in this dimension, her summoning lacked forced, as if she was just copying the motions without understanding the purpose or potential behind them. 

 

There was more to Fusion than just playing Polymerization, dropping a couple monsters in the graveyard, and pulling a stronger one from the Extra deck. If that was all it took, he wouldn’t have needed to drill Yuya for days. No, only true duelists could bring out the full power of Fusion. It was what set the Academia and its forces apart. It was what made them worthy.

 

It was what these third rate students at LDS nothing but fodder. To someone like Yuya, who had learned true Fusion...

 

Well, a one-sided slaughter was fun too, in Sora’s opinion. 

 

“Lady and gentlemen!” Yuya announced, spreading his arms grandly as his turn began. “Welcome, to a very special show! Only here, only today, you will witness the birth of something new! The latest, greatest evolution of dueling!” 

 

Sora didn’t even try to hide his smirk, as Akaba Reiji’s eyes narrowed slightly. 

 

The twin pillars of Pendulum shot up on Yuya’s field, and a trio of monsters appeared, including Odd-Eyes. But despite his boasting, Yuya only attacked with his Pendulum summoned monsters, easily overpowering Topaz with his dragon and landing a pair of direct hits on his opponent. 

 

‘I guess he didn’t draw Polymerization,’ Sora thought, disappointed. It couldn’t be helped, of course, but it just showed how far Yuya still had to go and how awkward he still was with Fusion compared to Pendulum. 

 

“All that talk, and that’s all you can do?” Masumi mocked. “I’ll show you how a real duelist plays!” 

 

In terms of pure skill, she wasn’t bad, and she understood how to make every play count. The monster she tributed to summon another became Fusion materials from the graveyard with the use of her face down, and the knight Yuya had just destroyed ended up in the perfect position for her newly summoned ace to target with its effect. 

 

It was a clean, precise cascade, which Sora had to admit Yuya wasn’t quite able to pull off — at least, not yet. More to the point, Yuya was clearly losing his head, his expression quickly turning flustered as he mentally tallied up the effects and damage results. He glanced around frantically. 

 

But Yuya was forgetting one important point in his panic. 

 

Sora palmed his face. 

 

“Gem-Knight Crystal, attack Performapal Performapal Drummerilla!” Masumi called out. 

 

“Gaaah!” Yuya yelped, completely losing his cool. Scrambling out of the way of the backlash, he hauled himself onto Silver Fang’s back, and the wolf took off. Masumi scowled, turning to follow their rapid dash through the shining rainbow corridor. 

 

“Next! Master Diamond, attack Silver Fang!” she yelled. “And due to the inherited effect of Topaz, you take damage equal to Silver Fang’s attack points!” 

 

Her hulking armored ace turned with a pondering slowness, drawing out its massive gemmed blade. But onces its sword was raised to strike — it burst into action, crossing the distance between Masumi’s field and Silver Fang’s path in the blink of an eye. Its sword drew a brilliant arc as it crashed through a thick pillar and through Silver Fang, sending Yuya flying. 

 

He grunted, hitting the ground, but rolled to his feet with the grace of an experienced Action duelist and kept running. 

 

“And finally! With Topaz’s other effect, Master Diamond can attack twice! Go, destroy Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!” 

 

Odd-Eyes roared in challenge, not backing down despite the difference in attack points. With the same ponderous care, Master Diamond turned and hefted up its sword again, like a knight about to become a dragonslayer. 

 

Masumi’s eyes flickered to a spot on the opposite side of the corridor — an Action Card. She had wanted to win with just the power of her summoning, to show her pride as a Fusion user, but in the moment of truth, she wavered. And it gave away the flaw in her seemingly polished dueling. 

 

“Action Card: Power Gem! Odd-Eyes gains 800 attack points!” 

 

Just in time, Yuya appeared triumphant on the upper terrace of the gem corridor. The Action Card shone in his hand, its light enveloping Odd-Eyes and raising its attack points higher than Master Diamond’s. 

 

“Action Card: Great Gem!” Masumi’s expression was deeply chagrined, at herself, as she held up an Action Card of her own. “Master Diamond’s attack points rise by 1000. Odd-Eyes is destroyed! And you take its 2500 attack points as damage!” 

 

“Nooooo— ...huh?” Yuya paused, looking down at his duel disk in confusion. 

 

His life points had scrolled down indeed, but by far less than 2500. In fact, they were too high to begin with, given the damage he should have taken from Silver Fang’s destruction as well. 

 

“Oh, for.... Yuya! You used this against me already!” Sora yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Topaz’s effect only activates when your monsters are sent to the graveyard!” 

 

“But Pendulum monsters return to the Extra deck...” Yuya realized, and groaned deeply. 

 

“...What?!” Masumi shrieked. 

 

She darted a horrified, furious look toward Akaba Reiji, but her distress only deepened at her school owner’s blank, silently judging expression. If Yuya looked ridiculous for forgetting his own summoning style’s properties, Masumi didn’t look much better for not thinking to research them either and for complaining about a being given an advantage by the chosen field, only to go ahead and use it anyway. 

 

“I... I end my turn,” she muttered. “Due to the effects of Fragment Fusions, Master Diamond is destroyed.” 

 

Sora couldn’t help it. He burst out laughing. 

 

It was so ridiculous. Both of them had been so caught up in trying to show off their skills, and both of them messed up. Too focused on their pride in their Fusion summoning, they’d gotten taken completely off guard—

 

—Just like him. 

 

Sora’s laughter cut off sharply, although he quickly tried to mask it as a coughing fit. 

 

He’d done the same thing, hadn’t he? ‘Give me a little more fun than that! This duel isn’t very entertaining at all,’ he’d taunted. He’d thought he could have a little real fun, have a hunt like the soldiers in invasion force. Just play a game with a cornered, weak prey. 

 

Stupid. Forgetting to turn on the Real Solid Vision in his duel disk, letting that Xyz weakling’s strategy slip through — those kinds of mistakes were unforgivable for an Academia soldier. 

 

Maybe he’d spent too long playing around with Yuya and Yuzu and You Show, becoming as careless as the two civilians down in the dueling field. 

 

Yuya could afford to mess around and make a fool of himself, but Sora was different. It was time to stop playing happy fun duel school. 

 

...but he would at least watch this duel to the end, to see the outcome of his training. 

 

“Yuya! Don’t worry about it! Go for it!” Sora yelled down, waving energetically.

 

Yuya stared at him, his mortification and uncertainty playing across his face. Meeting his eyes, Sora smiled and nodded. Finally, Yuya nodded in return. His expression grew calm as he placed his fingers onto his deck and concentrated. 

 

“I draw!” he announced, pulling out the top card sharply. Squinting open one eye to check it, he blinked in surprise, then grinned. 

 

Coughing into his fist, he spread his arms dramatically again. 

 

“There you have it! The first of Pendulum summoning’s secrets! When destroyed, Pendulum monsters return to the Extra deck, so all effects that activate when a monster is sent to the graveyard are useless!” he said, as Masumi glared. “And! With the set Scales, I can return them to my field again! Come forth, Silver Claw and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!” 

 

His opponent winced, her field open except for her Gem-Knight Crystal, which wouldn’t be able to stand against his dragon. Most likely, she had nothing in her hand she could use either. Action Cards would be her only hope. 

 

The mental conflict was obvious on her face — give up her pride completely and go for the field advantage she had been so angry about, or stand face almost certain defeat? 

 

“But the fun has only just begun!” Yuya declared. “I play Magical Thunder! By sending one spell card from my hand to the graveyard, I can destroy a card on the field, and the card I choose is... Stargazer Magician, in my right Scale!” 

 

“What? Why?” Masumi stopped short, staring at him in shock. 

 

“In its place, I set Scale 4 Performapal Trump Witch!” 

 

Even Sora didn’t understand the purpose of this. But there had to be a reason behind Yuya’s confident smile, and he felt a surge of anticipation. Attention rivited by the duel below, he leaned over the railing. 

 

Yuya was smiling. “I use Trump Witch’s Pendulum effect! With it, I can Fusion summon directly from my Extra deck, using monsters on my field as materials!”

 

“What?! You, Fusion summon?” Masumi yelped. 

 

“That's even better than we practiced,” Sora murmured. “That really is Pendulum Fusion...” 

 

"Prideful silver wolf, become one with the arcane dragon to create a new power! Fusion Summon!” When Yuya brought his hands together, the sense of power was unmistakable. This was true Fusion summoning, and Yuya’s true potential. “The ferocious dragon with luminous feral eyes! Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

 

Sora had already seen the dragon that was brought forth, when Yuya finally mastered Fusion in their training. Even so, he felt a surge of awe and pride as it roared with force enough to make the crystal corridor resonate and sing. 

 

Fusion and Pendulum. Could there be a more amazing display of power? 

 

“Beast-Eyes, attack Gem-Knight Crystal!” Yuya ordered. “And due to Beast-Eyes’s effect, you'll take Silver Claw’s 1800 attacks damage too! This is the grand finale! Battle!” 

 

The impact sent Masumi flying, her life points scrolling to zero. As the end of battle gong rang, Yuya turned and bowed deeply to the gallery — Sora and Akaba Reiji. Without even thinking about it, Sora let out a ringing cheer. 

 

“Way to go, Yuya! Way to show off our training!” he yelled. 

 

Straightening, Yuya waved back before heading over to Masumi. She glared sulkily at the hand up he offered her but finally accepted. Sora couldn’t hear what she said to him, but it made Yuya flush and chuckle in embarrassment. 

 

In the viewing gallery next to Sora, Akaba Reiji silently turned and left the dueling court. 

 

It was time for Sora to leave too. Even if Sora had neglected his mission a little at You Show, it had been worth it to open the way to something like that. The Professor would surely be pleased when he gave his report. 

 

But now it was time to get serious. He had an Xyz survivor to hunt down. 

 

~.~.~


	13. 1:2 Movement

**Notes:** Just... a little... further... until we finally start getting somewhere in the plot!! omg

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 13: Movement**

 

“Um,” Yuya drew out uncertainly. “Sorry, what?” 

 

“What, what?” Rin shot back, raising an eyebrow. 

 

“We’re just... going to duel? Aren’t you going to explain how Synchro summoning works?” he clarified. 

 

Rin failed to see the issue. Probably Yuya was just being a pansy again. “I gave you a Tuner, didn’t I?” she said — her new Effect Veiler, in fact, which she very much expected back. It was a card that existed in her world too, but she had never been able to get a copy. "So we’ll duel until you pull it off.”

 

That was how she and Yugo came up with and perfected all their moves, by battling each other over and over again. According to Yuzu, Yuya had done the same to figure out Pendulum, dueling his friend Gongenzaka two hundred times in a row. 

 

Oddly, Yuya didn’t seem to see it that way. “You know, Sora walked me through how to do it,” he muttered rebelliously. 

 

“You dueled me before. You’ve seen how it works,” she said blankly. 

 

She expected Yuya to get sulky and worried again or even try to drag his feet, like he had whenever Yuzu came up with some new training routine or lectured him about the weaknesses in his entertainment dueling. But to her surprise, Yuya only hung his head for a moment before taking a deep breath and straightening. 

 

“Right,” he said. “Right! Let’s do this!” 

 

Conversely, his uncharacteristic confidence left Rin feeling like she had missed something. “Uh, yeah...” she muttered. “Are you sure you don’t need a Synchro monster too? It’ll be a little weird, but I could lend you Clear Wing. You’re like Yugo, so...” 

 

Since Clear Wing and Odd Eyes were connected, it might help him feel the flow of Synchro and summon it more easily... in theory, she supposed. But Yuya just shook his head. 

 

“It’s okay, I don’t need it,” he said with certainty. His smile widened as his gaze grew a little distant, thinking back on something. “When I was training with Sora... it happened,” he explained. “I really did draw a new ace, just like that. Beast Eyes Pendulum Dragon... I remember all of it. It was really me. I did that, I really have that potential. And I’m going to keep going even further!” 

 

Ah. The look on his face... it was pride. 

 

Without thinking, she reached out and ruffled his hair roughly. Yuya sputtered, flailing, and Rin quickly pulled back. “My bad!” she blurted out. “You just... really looked like Yugo for a moment.” 

 

For all that she complained about Yugo’s excessive boasting, seeing his pride in himself had always made her happy. Too many in the Commons absorbed and accepted the way that the Tops treated them, whether by becoming crushed under the weight of that disdain or becoming bitter and angry as they tried to reject it. But Yugo’s feelings had always remained clear and simple, like the cloudless blue sky. Like Clear Wing, he couldn’t be touched by anyone’s attempts to change him. 

 

It had given Rin confidence and the strength to keep believing in their future, even in the slums. When she saw Yugo’s smile, she knew without a doubt that they would become like the King. They would soar free and make their own path. 

 

“It’s cute,” she added, seeing the uncertainty creeping across Yuya’s expression. 

 

“C-cu...? Guh! I... um, that’s...” Yuya stammered. He waved his hands abstractly, seemingly completely losing the ability to form thought. 

 

“Pffft!” Rin snickered into her fist. He looked even more flabbergasted than Yugo at that kind of comment, though he at least managed not to turn the same violent shade of red. That was for the best, it wouldn’t have gone well with his hair at all. 

 

Still, she was glad. Yuya needed to have more faith in himself and his potential. Hesitating and doubting himself constantly would only drag him down. 

 

If learning Fusion had helped him, it was a good thing. And if learning Synchro could help him more, she wouldn’t hold back at all. She’d beat it into him before his second scheduled qualification match. 

 

Noticing the bloodthirsty grin on her face, Yuya shuddered. But, biting his cheek, he straightened and faced death head on. 

 

~.~.~

 

When Akaba Reiji contacted Yuya about the schedule for his next match, he also said something else, and Yuya passed on the message faithfully. 

 

Supposedly, it had something to do with Rin’s registration for the Maiami Championship. Without specifying anything, he said he wanted to speak with her about it and to come to LDS. 

 

That certainly sounded plausible enough, and Yuya had given it no further thought, too busy groaning into the couch cushions at You Show after they finally called it a day on their training. But Rin couldn’t help feeling a sense of distrust as she headed to the towering LDS building. It looked too much like a shining Tops compound, and the feeling only increased as she was directed to “the president’s office” at the highest floor. 

 

She instinctively couldn’t trust a person who spent their time looking down at the world like this. 

 

Although Akaba Reiji must have been waiting for her, standing beside his desk and looking at a duel monsters card he held in his hand, it was several moments before he turned to look at her as she approached. Rin clenched her fists as she stopped, waiting, almost half the room away. 

 

“Well?” she snapped finally. It felt a bit like losing the first draw, but something about his unreadable gaze unsettled her too much. “What did you call me for?” 

 

“There is some additional information I would like you to confirm for your file,” he said, his tone completely even, without any hint toward his emotions. He paused, reaching up to adjust his glasses. The lenses gleamed in the light of his screens. “Normally, we would pull this from your other records, but obviously you lack those in this dimension.” 

 

The shock of the last word hit her like a physical blow, frigid and completely unexpected. It took a moment to completely register, completely paralyzing her thoughts. 

 

Rin silently mouthed a stunned exclamation or a question, words refusing to form. All the while, Reiji waited patiently, watching the effect of his casually dropped revelation. 

 

He must have been enjoying it, Rin thought, and that sparked anger enough to finally push her to react. 

 

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” she burst out. 

 

“You must have realized it by now,” Reiji said, taking it as a poor attempt at denial, “this is not the dimension you are from. This isn’t Synchro dimension.” 

 

He had a name for it. He knew what kind of place it was. And that meant... What did it mean? He knew about other dimensions. He knew about her dimension specifically. He knew which one she was from... “How do you know about that?” Rin demanded. “How long have you known?” 

 

It was split second, but she could see the calculation behind his eyes as he decided how much to tell her. It raised her hackles, adding to her already mounting tension. “We detected the disturbance in the dimensional fabric from your arrival,” he said. "After that, we were able to determine that you were the one who arrived, in part because of your Synchro summoning skills.” 

 

“So you’ve known all along,” Rin said sharply. “And you didn’t say anything until now?” 

 

All that worrying, all the confusion and uncertainty she had been lost in when she first appeared in this world, and all along, someone had known what was going on. Even after Rin had accepted staying at You Show for a while, even enjoyed it, the worry about how to return to Yugo had never quite faded from the back of her mind. 

 

And all along, he’d known and watched and said nothing. 

 

“I’m telling you now,” Reiji shot back. “Or are you not interested in hearing the rest?” 

 

His tone made it hard to tell whether this was intended as a threat or whether he was just tired of her protests and interruptions. Scowling, Rin gestured sharply for him to continue. There was a tense, brittle pause as Reiji pushed up his glasses before speaking. 

 

“You are not the only one to have recently come to the Standard dimension,” he said finally. “The Leo Corporation has been observing all of you, to determine if you are a threat to this world. Protecting Standard and its people is our absolute goal.”

 

“I don’t even know how I got here! I’d leave if I knew how,” Rin glared. On second thought, maybe admitting that wasn’t particularly strategically smart of her, but she pushed onward full speed ahead. “Did you seriously think I was a threat?” 

 

“Not you in particular,” Reiji admitted, and though it was only logical, now that she was keyed up, Rin felt a twinge of annoyance at being dismissed. “However, don’t think it’s paranoia. We have good reason to be wary. Even now, two dimensions are at war — Fusion and Xyz. The others to have come here recently are from those worlds, so it was only natural that we proceed with caution.” 

 

“War?” Rin repeated, but Reiji didn’t clarify. 

 

“We are going to intervene before those two groups come into conflict here, so that Maiami doesn’t become a battlefield as well,” he went on. “And the reason I contacted you now is to make sure you didn’t get caught up in the crossfire either.” 

 

It was a lot to take, and Rin dithered for a moment, trying to process all of it. Where did she even start? Other people from alternate dimensions? A war? Leo Corporation as some kind of... of dimensional police force? 

 

It was all too big, too much. 

 

Focus. What was important to her? What did she need to know? 

 

“Can you travel across dimensions?” Rin asked. 

 

A pause. “So you are unable to return the way you came,” Reiji judged. 

 

Rin scowled. “I already said I can’t leave,” she said. “I dunno how or why Clear Wing brought me here, and it won’t answer me when I tell it to take me back. But if you know so much about other dimensions, you’ve gotta have a way of crossing them, right?” Her eyes narrowed as, again, there was that moment of consideration, like he was deciding how much to reveal. “And if you don’t,” she pressed, “I’m going to find those other guys and ask them how they came, whether you like it or not.” 

 

It was petty, but the slight tightening of his posture in annoyance made Rin feel like she’d won a little. 

 

“There’s no need to resort to threats,” Reiji said shortly — and somewhat hypocritically. “LDS has been working on a dimensional transporter for some time, but the development is not complete yet. We are still in the process of making the final adjustments.” 

 

He was going to say something else, but he paused at the sound of a sharp vibration. It was coming from a device on his desk, shaking against the surface — his duel disk, in fact. Picking it up, Reiji tapped at the screen and scanned the message quickly. 

 

“Faster than I thought...” he muttered. 

 

He turned back to Rin before she could ask. And, infuriatingly, smirked faintly. 

 

“You wanted to meet the others, didn’t you? Then come,” he said. sweeping past her toward the elevator. “It seems they’re making their move.” 

 

~.~.~


	14. 1:2 Movement II

**Notes:** Reiji is full of shit. But like, strategically. Also, I’m not too clear on the balance of “end justifies means” and “actually does care” with him, so... 

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 14: Movement II**

 

Rin had intended to glare at Reiji all through the car ride. This time, she would be calm, she would be disdainful—

 

The car door slammed shut as she was all but shoved inside, and with a squeal of tires, they peeled out of the underground garage. Someone to the right — now behind them — blared their horn violently, as their unmarked black car took a turn so sharp that Rin was thrown against the opposite side door. The engine roared as the driver stepped on the gas, and the street flashed past outside the window. 

 

“Nakajima, what’s the situation?” Reiji asked. He sounded calm enough if terse, but the white-knuckled grip he had on his seatbelt gave him away. 

 

“If we need to go fast, let me drive! I’ll get us there in no time!” Rin butted in, scrambling across the back seat to grab onto the back of the driver’s chair. 

 

“You’re not driving,” Reiji objected. 

 

“I’m a great driver!” ...On a D-Wheel. Another screech of tires as they took a sharp right. “Nice drift,” she added.

 

“Thank you,” Reiji’s assistant — bodyguard? chauffeur? — ‘Nakajima’ said politely. “According to Hikage’s last report, it most likely won’t be possible for them to stall without battle. They will engage as necessary to keep the targets from escaping. The elite team is also on their way. Their ETA is ninety seconds before us.” 

 

“Make it sixty,” Reiji said. “Against opponents with real combat experience, even the entire elite team won’t last much longer.” 

 

“What’s going on?” Rin asked, glancing between Nakajima, the road, and Reiji. 

 

He frowned, but his response was almost distracted. Grudgingly, Rin supposed she was probably the least of his problems — after all, she wasn’t a threat to the world, just an afterthought. 

 

“I said before there is a war between dimensions taking place,” he said. “A year ago, the Fusion dimension attacked the Xyz dimension and has since wiped out most of them. The others that came to Standard are from those two dimensions. I had my men tail them, with orders to interfere when they came into contact. I won’t allow them to continue their war here in Standard.” 

 

“But getting in the middle of a fight just means you’ll get attacked by both sides,” Rin said what they both knew. “That takes some guts.” 

 

“That’s why we need to make it there quickly,” Reiji agreed. 

 

It sounded like one hell of a messy situation to drive into. The only kind of war Rin had ever seen was a turf war between gangs, and nasty as those had been, Security had always stepped in once the disturbance became too great. But that kind of intense dueling, where you couldn’t afford to lose if you wanted to walk away afterwards... She swallowed heavily, clenching her jaw. 

 

Yeah, she didn’t want that kind of thing to happen here either. Not where Yuzu or Yuya or Sora might get dragged in. Dueling in this dimension should remain something fun and simple. Pulling out her duel disk, she strapped it to her arm, even as Reiji did the same. 

 

The car jostled as they crossed over into an abandoned part of town, the roads cracked and the buildings around them standing dark and empty. But up ahead, lights flared in a pattern Rin easily recognized — an ongoing battle. 

 

“Arriving,” Nakajima announced calmly, just before he stepped on the brakes. 

 

He turned so the car skidded sideways until it slid to a stop just short of the battleground. The action had been temporarily halted by their arrival, and all those involved watched, tense and still, as the new arrivals stepped onto the field. 

 

All eyes locked on Reiji first, leaving a spare moment for Rin to take stock — unconscious or groaning prone bodies in LDS elite uniforms strew around one side, defeated as Reiji had predicted, a single ninja in red still standing if barely, his partner in blue holding down... Sora?... who was glaring furiously at the two teenagers in ragged dark clothing on the opposite side. 

 

Then, all hell broke loose. 

 

“Ruri! Ruri!!” one of the Xyz users, marked by a mechanical bird with an overlay unit circling it in front of him, shouted suddenly, his eyes locking on Rin. 

 

She was, in turn, was staring at his partner. That face, a dark cloak... “YOU!!” Rin shrieked. “You bastard!” 

 

She fully intended to punch him. She’d thought about it, all this time — that the next time she saw him, she wouldn’t be intimidated or run. She’d take the fight straight to him, and she’d make him take her home, if that was what it took. 

 

Reiji’s hand darted out to grab her by the collar and haul her back before she could rush across the dueling field. 

 

“Ruri! Get your hands off her!” that bastard’s partner — probably — yelled, looking just short of punching Reiji. 

 

“Ruri, what’s wrong?” the Yugo imposter himself asked her in hurt tones. Seeing such a wounded, concerned expression on that face was almost enough to make Rin’s heart twist, but now it just made her angrier. 

 

“Who the hell is Ruri?!” she roared. “I’ll get you this time, you asshole! It’s ‘cause of you that’s I’m stuck here! I’ll beat your face in this time!” 

 

Reiji grunted as she struggled against his grip. “You have the wrong person,” he snapped, raising his voice. “Oof!” He finally let go as Rin elbowed him in the gut. 

 

“Like hell! He’s not Yugo, and he’s not Yuya, so he’s gotta be that asshole who was chasing me around!” she protested, spinning around and backing away a step to glare at him. “What, is there four of them? No way!” 

 

“There are,” Reiji shot back, rubbing his sore stomach. “There are four dimensions. And in each of them, there is a pair of counterparts. In Standard, Yuzu and Yuya. In Synchro, you and that Yugo. In Xyz...” He glanced meaningfully toward the boy with Yugo’s face, still looking at Rin with undisguised worry and hurt. “And it’s the same for Fusion.” 

 

...Could he be right? 

 

She hadn’t gotten a good look before, but the difference was stark. The air of menace and hunger was completely absent in the boy here now, and instinctively, Rin knew that the one who had come after her was the type to hunt alone. He wouldn’t have a partner to begin with, much less one he drifted toward like that, as if drawing strength from being shoulder to shoulder. 

 

“What are you talking about?!” the older Xyz user snarled. “Do you think I wouldn’t recognize my own sister?” 

 

“I ain’t your sister!” Rin yelled back. Thrusting up her arm, she pulled down her sleeve to show her bracelet. “See?!” 

 

It hadn’t exactly been a guarantee that this other girl had a bracelet too, but it seemed Rin had guessed right. ‘Big brother’ stopped and stared at it in growing confusion. “The shape is...” he muttered. 

 

“Shun...” the other counterpart boy murmured, laying a steadying hand on his shoulder. 

 

The tilt of Rin’s frown shifted, some of her blinding anger beginning to cool. The difference was just too great — as great as between Yugo and Yuya. A fourth one... 

 

The fourth boy with that face took half a step forward, tearing his eyes away from Rin with a visible effort. “You’re Akaba Reiji,” he said, addressing the one next to her instead. “We have a lot of things to ask you, about Academia... and your father.” 

 

‘His  _ what _ ,’ Rin thought flatly, shooting Reiji a sharp, annoyed look. 

 

The expression she saw on Reiji’s face, just for a moment, gave her pause. It hadn’t been much more than a faint twist in his features, but it had conveyed a sense of deeper emotion than anything she had managed to draw out of him for all her stubborn attempts to irritate. 

 

It had been anger. Although he masked it and controlled it, Reiji was angry — at the Xyz users. 

 

“I imagine so,” he said tonelessly. “You were certainly determined to draw my attention.” 

 

She didn’t know what he meant, but it was clear the pair across the field did. ‘Shun’ just glared, but the boy next to him flinched and looked away. “That was...” he said, trailing off without even completing his excuse. 

 

“A misunderstanding?” Reiji concluded coldly. “Something like this can’t be taken back. He wasn’t a member of Academia. He was a teacher, who helped children find their full potential as duelists.” 

 

Had... someone died? Rin glanced uncertainly between them. The Xyz boy seemed to curl in on himself, his expression ridden with guilt. “Yes,” he whispered. “We were wrong, and it can’t be fixed. There’s no use in even apologizing...” 

 

“It wasn’t your fault,” ‘Shun’ snapped, stepping forward and half in front of him. He met Reiji’s gaze and glared. “I did it. So what are you going to do about it?” 

 

“...If it had been one of the students... but at least it was someone who had agreed to risk their life in this war,” Reiji said. “I need your power, so I won’t take any action — this time.” There was a pause as he must have, without any outward sign, reigned in his feelings. 

 

“Need our power?” ‘Shun’ repeated. His eyes narrowed. “If you think we’d help—” 

 

Reiji raised his voice, cutting him off. “I’ll say it clearly — Akaba Leo is my enemy. I will put a stop to his and Academia’s ambitions. For that purpose, I want your power.” 

 

Even though she had no idea what it meant, the cold, uncompromising weight of his declaration sent a shiver down Rin’s spine. She was... really out of her depth, wasn’t she? 

 

She just wanted to go home. 

 

The sudden sound of a scuffle broke the tense standoff, and all four of them turned sharply to check on the commotion. 

 

The red ninja who had been facing the Xyz users had abandoned the battle in the blink of an eye. Instead he had darted over to help his partner, who was reeling from what must have been an impressive headbutt from Sora — Rin had managed to forget about him in the confusion. 

 

Sora, making a break for it, didn’t go far before the red ninja pinned him again. He snarled and twisted, but to no avail. 

 

Sora... was a Fusion user. And Reiji had said he had ordered his men to intercede in a battle between Xyz and Fusion. But that couldn’t be right. Sora knew she was from another dimension — too? — and how much she wanted to go back, or least know that there was a way to get home. Surely he would have said something. 

 

Rin looked at him, silently asking for answers when she couldn’t even figure out which question to start with. But Sora’s glare was fixed on Reiji, on the Xyz pair, on the ninjas who were holding him in place. Compared to them, Rin was just... a bystander. Just an afterthought, if even that.

 

Whatever events were playing out across dimensions, she had no place in them. 

 

Swallowing heavily and biting the inside of her cheek, even Rin couldn’t force herself to speak up. It was all just too much, too suddenly. She wanted to go home — to Yugo, to Yuzu and Shuzo. Somewhere far away from this tangled mess. 

 

~.~.~

 

Rin remained silent as they reluctantly relocated back to the LDS tower, only speaking up when the two ninjas dragged Sora into a separate van. Even if she didn’t understand his part in all this, he was still someone she — and Yuzu and Yuya — considered a friend. 

 

“I have no intention of harming him,” Reiji assured her. “We will detain him for now, to keep him from contacting his superiors at Academia or attacking anyone. He’s too much of a wild card to let him continue roaming free.” 

 

Something about that didn’t sit right with Rin, but her thoughts were too muddled to form a proper protest. 

 

“I don’t think he can do much. I took his duel disk,” the Xyz boy with Yugo’s face said. Yuto — that was how he’d introduced himself. Rin glared at him on principle, but seeing him subtly cringe away just made her feel worse. Falling silent, she let herself be herded into another of LDS’s black cars. 

 

They returned to Reiji’s office through the same private garage and elevator that they had used to leave. As Reiji gave some final instructions to his minions in hushed tones, Rin tugged nervously at the hem of her jacket — borrowed from Yuzu again. 

 

Yuzu had offered to buy her some clothes of her own, but Rin had declined. What was the point? She’d leave behind everything except whichever outfit she was wearing at the time. They might as well just buy Yuzu herself more clothing — unless that was the entire point, she’d teased. 

 

...Or that was what Rin had expected, to be pulled back just as suddenly as she’d arrived, whenever Clear Wing decided to wake up again. But if there was an actual way of traveling between dimensions... 

 

She would be able to properly say goodbye, wouldn’t she? 

 

Yuzu. Come to think of it, how was she going to explain this to Yuzu? Or Yuya? Sora was... she didn’t even know, but it seemed obvious he’d hidden things from them. It was one thing when a shady stranger like Reiji decided not to bother revealing anything until it was convenient for him, but Sora had been right there with them in Domino City. He must have known even then. 

 

Finally finishing his last orders, Reiji gestured toward an arrangement of couches and arm chairs to one side of his office. It must have been simply habit — no one took a seat, not even him, leaving them standing in an awkward, distrustful circle. 

 

“So?” Rin snapped, crossing her arms defensively. “Start explaining. What the hell is going? What did you mean about a war, and what does Sora have to do with it?”

 

Reiji pushed up his glasses. “First, I want to hear your side. How did you end up in Standard? You said you were pursued.” 

 

“No,” Kurosaki — the one who kept calling her his sister, even now stepping forward in a way that was almost protective — cut in. “First we’ll hear your side.” 

 

Faced with three wary looks, Reiji inclined his head in concession. “Then we might as well start from the beginning,” he said, glancing at her.    
  


“Well, sorry for not knowing anything about interdimensional politics,” Rin muttered rebelliously. 

 

“There are four dimension — Standard, Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz,” he went on, ignoring her. “Originally, they were unaware of each other’s existence. However, my father Akaba Leo developed technology to observe the other dimensions and even travel between them. My mother and I were unaware of this until he suddenly vanished one day, abandoning us. We searched his private files desperately for answers, and that was when we found out...” 

 

He gestured, and a large Solid Vision screen popped up in front of him. Information was densely packed across it, too complex for Rin to understand as it automatically scrolled. 

 

“Arc Area Project,” Reiji pronounced the heading. “Akaba Leo’s plan to unite all four dimensions into one. To that end, he traveled to Fusion dimension and took over the dueling school, Academia, to produce an army of soldiers loyal to his cause.” 

 

But that didn’t matter. What mattered were the photographs of two children. A boy and a girl, with painfully familiar faces. 

 

“Wait, wait,” Rin waved her hands. “What about that? Why are there pictures of those kids there? That’s... that’s the ones from Fusion then?” She frowned. “It looks like him, like the guy who attacked me.” As an afterthought, she glanced at Yuto and added, “Sorry, it really wasn’t you. My bad.” 

 

Now that she compared even just the old photo and Yuto, she could tell the difference was too great, even if the face was the same. 

 

“It’s.... fine,” he muttered, avoiding her gaze. 

 

“You were attacked?” Kurosaki asked sharply. He looked like he was about to start hovering, and Rin pinned him with a glare that projected ‘I’m not your sister’ as vividly as possible. 

 

“Yeah,” she said. “For a while, I thought someone was following me, and then he finally started chasing me. He was wearing this cloak, so I could tell at first, but... he had the same face as Yugo — and Yuya and you.” She nodded at Yuto. “When he tried to grab me, Clear Wing started glowing and I just... ended up in Standard. I don’t know anything else.” 

 

“Clear Wing?” Yuto asked. 

 

“Clear Wing Synchro Dragon,” Rin clarified, pulling out the card and holding it up, face toward them. “It’s Yugo’s, but he gave it to me, just in case.” 

 

Yuto’s eyes narrowed and he reached into his own Extra deck, pulling out a card — a dragon, Rin felt sure. 

 

“Yuya has a dragon too, Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon. They’re connected, right?” she said. “And when we were in Domino, they both reacted. Is there something special about them? Is that why this guy is in your dad’s files?”

 

“I don’t know,” Reiji said flatly. “What we found is incomplete. That boy’s name is Yuri. The girl is Serena. But there’s no explanation as to why my father included them in the Arc Area Project files.” 

 

“If this girl, Serena, is important to the Professor’s plans, and... Rin... was attacked. Then Ruri must have been taken for the same reason,” Yuto said. “But why just the girls? And why them at all?” 

 

“Ruri...” Kurosaki murmured, clenching his fists. 

 

Even though Reiji had already said he didn’t know, Rin was wondering the same thing. If this Academia place was after her... then just going back home wouldn’t work, would it? She would always have someone after her, and... “Wait, does that mean Yuzu might get attacked too?” she asked, as something occurred to her. 

 

“There’s a good chance,” Reiji confirmed. “If Academia isn’t stopped, she will most likely become a target as well. All of Standard will.” 

 

That wasn’t right. Rin didn’t want that to happen to Yuzu, who was strong but also lived a simple, happy life in a peaceful city. Being chased, terrified, being dragged off somewhere for some unknown purpose — just thinking about that happening to Yuzu had Rin grinding her teeth. 

 

“Like Heartland,” Yuto said quietly, lost in his own dark thoughts. “This city will become a battlefield.” 

 

“No,” Reiji said sharply. “I will defeat Akaba Leo and Academia before that can happen. That is the reason LDS exists. And,” his gaze swept across them, pinning each in turn, “that is what I want your cooperation with.” 

 

~.~.~


	15. 1:2 A false friend

**Notes:** Loose ends and then we’re finally going into the third arc of this story, Maiami Championship. Finally. 

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 15: A false friend**

 

“Morning!” Yuzu called out from the kitchen, when Rin finally trudged downstairs. 

 

Shuzo, buried in a stack of paperwork on the couch, looked relieved at the excuse to take a break. “Look who’s finally up!” he ribbed her. “You were out late last night. Something happen?” 

 

She had been up even later tossing and turning, unable to sleep as everything she’d learned spun around in her head. “It was that Reiji guy. He wanted to talk about my registration,” she said slowly, dredging up the excuse he had given Yuya to get her to LDS in the first place. 

 

One of the last things Reiji had told Rin before she finally left was to keep the entire dimensional conflict from Yuzu, Yuya and Shuzo. She had been too tired to protest much, especially when she didn’t really know how to feel about it. On the one hand, it felt dishonest to hide it from them, especially from Yuzu and Yuya, who were probably involved in whatever Akaba Leo’s plan was. But on the other hand, she didn’t want them to feel the pressure and uncertainty she was feeling. 

 

It wasn’t any good to try to hide from reality, but Rin could objectively say she had been happier before this entire mess had been dumped on her. 

 

She could always tell them if the situation changed or if she changed her mind. She hadn’t promised Reiji anything. 

 

“Is it good to go?” Shuzo asked, dragging her thoughts back to the present. 

 

“Oh... yeah, I guess?” Rin said uncertainly. “I’m gonna, uh, go and check today. To make sure.” 

 

“After Yuya’s match?” Yuzu guessed, emerging with a plate of breakfast that she handed to Rin. “Here, I reheated it for you. I’ll go with you to watch. Plus, I need to tell Yuya something anyway.” 

 

She was trying to tamp down her obvious excitement, fidgeting and biting her lip. It seemed only polite to ask. “Yeah? What happened?” Rin prompted. Shoveling some food into her mouth, she made an honest effort to pay attention. 

 

Yuzu grinned. “I found someone to teach me Xyz! He’s an LDS student, but from abroad. He came to Maiami for the championship. Anyway, he agreed to tutor me — and Yuya. It’s the last one he needs, right?” 

 

Xyz... like those two, Yuto and Kurosaki. Like the dimension that Sora’s group had invaded and devastated. 

 

Swallowing to buy herself time to respond, Rin nodded along. “Mm... yeah, he’s got Synchro and Fusion down, so that’s the last one,” she agreed. “Did you get a monster for it? Or maybe you don’t need to. Dunno if he told you, but Yuya just... pulled a Synchro monster out when he finally managed to summon. It was crazy. Cool too.” 

 

“Oh, really? Wow, that’s great!” Yuzu marveled. “I’ll—”

 

“Wait, wait! Time out!” Shuzo interrupted, holding up his arms in an X. Unnoticed by the girls, his expression had been growing steadily more shocked as he listened. “Yuzu, you’re learning Xyz? How come I’m only hearing about this now? Why didn’t you ask Papa to help?” 

 

“Dad...” Yuzu sighed. “You don’t use Xyz summoning. Do you even know how?” 

 

Shuzo flailed, expression deeply indignant. “Of course! What kind of duel school teacher would I be if I didn’t know a whole summoning method!” he protested. His wounded expression slipped slightly. “Maybe I don’t personally use it much... so it’s just theoretical... but I do know! The basics... I could have helped, Yuzuuuuu!” 

 

Although she tried to remain skeptical, Yuzu caved quickly. “Sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean to keep it a secret,” she said. “I just... I wanted to find my own way, to get stronger with my own power. Well, that sounds weird because I’m still getting tutored, but you know what I mean. I—” 

 

“Yuzuuuuu! Waaah!” Shuzo sobbed, clamping his around her. “My little is growing up so fast! Look how big you’ve gotten! How strong! You’re becoming such a great duelist! Papa’s so proud!” With exaggerated smooching noises, he planted sloppy kisses on the top of her head. 

 

“Daaaad!” Yuzu flailed. “Stop! Quit it!” 

 

Watching them as she absently finished off the rest of her food, Rin felt a swell of deep affection. It was a feeling she associated with Yugo, comfortable and warm, when any simple moment felt deeply precious. 

 

She wanted to protect them, from Academia and anything else. 

 

“Rin too! You’re amazing too!” Shuzo exclaimed suddenly, dragging her into the hug as well. “I’m such a lucky man! My heart’s burning with jooooy!” 

 

“Gah! Snot! Gross!” Rin protested at the feeling of wetness on her shoulder and fruitlessly tried to pry him off. She stopped as she met Yuzu’s blank stare. There was no escape, it said. Sighing, Rin let herself be embraced. 

 

~.~.~

 

Reiji didn’t protest when she demanded to see Sora, which made Rin suspicious, but not enough to stop her from going. He was probably going to eavesdrop or something — which was annoying, but not particularly surprising. He was like the Administrative Council, always listening. 

 

‘Creep,’ Rin thought uncharitably, as she was led into one of the LDS tower’s restricted sections. At least it wasn’t underground, like some dungeon in a fantasy story. 

 

However, the door her guide stopped in front of was obviously thicker than normal, and it took almost a minute for all the locks inside to release, whirring and clanging one by one. Whether this was a dungeon or not, whether there were guards and bars or not, this was very much a jail cell. 

 

The suited bodyguard type who had led the way stood aside and bowed, all silently. Rin had expected him to go in with her. That just made it clearer they were going to be observed, not that it made much difference. 

 

The room Sora was being kept in didn’t look much like a cell, even a futuristic one. A plain bed, a dresser with a lamp, even a simple print on the wall — it looked like a hotel room, really. An expensive pretentious one, actually. But the door that slid shut behind her whirred away as it began the extended locking process. 

 

“Yo,” Sora spoke up first while she was looking around. “Come to see if I’m getting treated right? Or come to yell at me?” 

 

“You’ll be lucky to get off with just yelling, if any of that stuff is true,” Rin snapped, turning a glare on him. “So? Is it?” 

 

“You’re gonna have to be a bit more specific than that,” he muttered, only to wave his hands quickly as Rin took a threatening step toward him. “OK, OK! It’s true, I’m from Fusion dimension. I’m a student at Academia, and I was sent here on a special mission. Let’s see... I started hanging around with Yuya and Yuzu because I was curious about Pendulum summoning, and then they met you on their own, so I tagged along too.” 

 

“So you already knew about other dimensions. And you must have had a way to get between them, and you still didn’t say anything,” Rin said sharply. 

 

Sora shrugged. “It would compromise my mission. Sorry, Rin, but it comes first. Anyway, I didn’t have a way of going to Synchro dimension, just here to Standard and back to Fusion.” 

 

Glaring for a moment longer, Rin decided to let it go. She couldn’t afford to get sidetracked by anger this early in. ‘It sounds like he doesn’t know anything about Yuzu and me and the others,’ she thought. She didn’t think he’d even known counterparts existed, much less that his leader wanted them for something. But still. 

 

“Do you know Yuri and Serena?” she asked bluntly. 

 

The question took him off guard, and he blinked at her in surprise. “Yuri and Serena? How do you know those names?” he wondered. “I mean... I don’t know them, but I’ve heard of them. They’re the Professor’s special students.” Sora hesitated, ruffling his hair. “Rin... Whatever Akaba Reiji is dragging you into, you shouldn’t get involved with Yuri. I heard he’s really dangerous. Even to other Academia soldiers.” 

 

Rin snorted, gritting her teeth. “I’d love to not get involved!” she said with sharp sarcasm. “But I can’t exactly do that, with your stupid school invading other dimensions!” 

 

“Guh! W-what does that matter? We haven’t done anything to Standard, or Synchro!” Sora shot back. He hunched defensively, even as he matched her glare. 

 

“You’re going to unify all the dimension or whatever, aren’t you? It’s not like you’re going to stop, so it’s Synchro or Standard next, right?” Rin yelled. “What the hell is up with that? How can you think that’s okay?!” 

 

“It’s just those Xyz scum! Academia has every right to rule over them!” Sora yelled. “It’s the Professor’s will!” 

 

Rin let out an inarticulate shriek of rage and spun around, glaring at the door, before she could try to strangle him out of frustration. What did he think people were?! Maybe she didn’t know any Xyz users, but how could summoning style determine a person’s worth? What kind of nonsense—

 

“You know,” she said, turning back to Sora with a narrow-eyed look, “Yuzu’s going to learn Xyz.” 

 

Sora rolled his eyes. “I know, I was there when she decided that,” he said. He sneered, unimpressed by her attempts to verbally back him into a corner. “She’s wasting her time and talent. She should learn Fusion — real dueling.” 

 

As a Synchro duelist, that was somehow annoying... but not the point. 

 

“So how do you know those Xyz duelists couldn’t learn Fusion if they wanted to? Maybe even all of them could!” Rin said, crossing her arms and puffing up triumphantly. 

 

This time, she had him. “W-well, they—!” Sora trailed off, his eyes darting around uneasily. He couldn’t say that they had chosen not to, when it hadn’t even been an option — Fusion hadn’t existed in their dimension. Growling in annoyance, he finally snapped, “That doesn’t matter!” 

  
“Yeah! It doesn’t!” Rin agreed. “‘Cause deciding if a somebody’s worth something on how they duel is stupid! Where the hell do you get off doing that?!” 

 

She lashed out, her fist hitting the wall with a dull, echoing thud that made Sora jump a little. He glanced at her with a new caution, as if expecting her to attack and judging the distance between them. “..So what? You’re a strong duelist, Rin,” he said. “And your Yugo is probably strong too, with a deck like that. Like Yuya...” 

 

He paused, grimacing — remembering the other boy with the same face, who had defeated him despite being ‘Xyz scum’ that had been hunted by Academia. 

 

“And if we weren’t strong duelists, we wouldn’t deserve to live?” Rin concluded his logic coldly. “Before we became strong, we didn’t deserve to live?” She snorted, laughing without humor. “Yeah, we didn’t — that’s what the Tops always told us. Until we prove ourselves in the Friendship Cup, all us Commons are just trash. Even when the King showed everyone how strong the Commons can be, nothing changed...” 

 

Her clenched fists shook, and Rin ducked her head, glaring at the floor. She could feel Sora’s uncertain gaze on her. He fidgeted, not knowing what to say and unused to the feeling of sympathy for someone. 

 

He didn’t understand anything at all. 

 

“I’ve had enough of that!” Rin bit off. “What the hell do you think people are?! You don’t get to decide if someone should get to live! You people... You’re wrong!” 

 

“What else are we supposed to do?!” Sora burst out. “It’s the Professor’s orders!” 

 

“Then don’t follow them!” 

 

“The Professor’s will is absolute!” 

 

They glared at each other, both breathing hard and shaking. 

 

It wasn’t fair. Why was he being like this? Why did his stupid Academia have to be like this? Why was the City like that? What was she supposed to do? She couldn’t change any of it, but she couldn’t just leave it either. It was all just too much. 

 

“Fine, whatever,” Rin muttered, breaking away first and turning away. 

 

“Rin...” Sora said quietly, an almost plaintive note in his tone. But he didn’t say anything else. He didn’t know what to say from there. 

 

Rin sighed, suddenly feeling impossibly tired. “Reiji said he’ll tell Yuya and Yuzu about the other dimensions if they make it through the Maiami Championship,” she said quietly. “Well, I’m sure they’ll make it. I told them you’re busy with other stuff right now, but I guess then we’ll have to tell them the truth.” 

 

Sora didn’t respond. 

 

Sighing again, Rin tapped against the door. As it began to unlock, she glanced back, but Sora had also turned away, glaring at something with his arms crossed defensively. He looked about as miserable as she felt. 

 

“But... they don’t know anything about it yet,” she said. “So it’ll be just a tournament. And I’ll try to do it like that too. We’ll put on our best entertainment dueling. So... watch it, okay?” 

 

The door slid open, and she stepped out without waiting for a response. It slammed shut behind her, already locking again. 

 

~.~.~


	16. 1:3 To bring joy

**Notes:** The Maiami Championship is finally here!! A logistical nightmare is what it is. Tbh I don’t really want to write full duels, so I’m going to be skipping the entire first part with the normal tournament matches go straight to the battle royal.  

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 16: To bring joy**

 

The day of the Maiami Championship. Crowds were filing into the bay stadium, their excited chatter filling the air. But as a participant, Rin — along with Yuzu and Yuya — had been directed to the underground backstage area. 

 

“We’ll be cheering for you from the stands! Show ‘em what You Show’s made of!” Shuzo hollered from the edge of the barricade as they headed in, Yuya’s mother and the younger students with him, waving energetically. 

 

“We’ll make you proud, Coach! Mom!” Yuya yelled back. 

 

As they headed down the tunnel to the backstage, the noise of the crowd outside began to fade away — but not entirely. A faint echo carried down through the foundations of the stadium, rising periodically as something made the gathering spectators cheer. It sounded like the festivities were already getting underway. Next to Rin, Yuya and Yuzu were beginning to smile in anticipation. 

 

A real tournament. This wasn’t how Rin had imagined her first tournament would go. Obviously, since it wasn’t the Friendship Cup. Yugo wasn’t next to her. There wouldn’t be any Riding Duels, and it wouldn’t be the Tops and Commons watching them. And at the end, the King wouldn’t be waiting. 

 

‘Come to think of it, the Friendship Cup should be coming up soon,’ Rin thought. The dates were about the same in both dimensions, and the day of the Cup was burned into her mind, along with the last day for registration. 

 

The chances of her making back by then were... slim. Non-existent. A dimensional war wasn’t something that could be solved that quickly. 

 

Would Yugo enter without her? Rin wouldn’t have minded if he did, and he was the type to keep pushing ahead, so hopefully he would. But on the other hand, she had his deck. Rin grimaced. Yugo in the Friendship Cup alone was one thing, but without even Clear Wing? That was all wrong. 

 

There was a light up ahead, as the tunnel opened up into the main staging area, voices drifting from it. Yuzu and Yuya picked up their pace in excitement, leaving Rin lagging behind. 

 

Right. She couldn’t think like that. 

 

Hadn’t she already decided? For this tournament, she’d forget all about this dimensional mess and just duel? This was the last chance to just enjoy a carefree time with Yuzu and everyone else in this world. Their entertainment dueling, before it was time to fight. 

 

Nodding sharply to herself, Rin hurried to catch up, so they could all step into the light together. 

 

The underground backstage area was already beginning to fill with duelists, standing alone or in small groups as they waited and made their last minute preparations. Their low chatter hummed in the air, up to the high ceiling. Another cheer from above rattled down through the concrete, together with the announcer’s voice, unintelligible but loud enough to carry down to them as he started firing up the crowd. 

 

Rin took a deep breath, her heartbeat picking up in excitement. 

 

“Gongenzaka! Gongenzaka, over here!” Yuya called out suddenly, waving to someone among the already gathered participants. Brightening, Yuzu waved too. 

 

A tall, stout figure in a white uniform turned and lifted a hand in greeting. His pompadour made him easy to recognize — Yuya’s childhood friend, whom Rin had been introduced to before, in passing. As he made his way over, the banner he carried over his shoulder casually fluttered, showing the name of his family’s school and their Immovable dueling style. 

 

“Yuya! You made it!” Gongenzaka greeted, clapping his friend on the back with just enough force to make him rock on his feet. It was entirely intentional, as he clasped hands with Yuzu without an ounce of unnecessary force. 

 

Yuya was grinning as he regained his balance, unfazed. “What’s with that surprised tone?” he complained lightly. “Of course I made it in! And I’ll have you know I’ve gotten a lot stronger, so you better watch out.” 

 

Giving him a long, assessing look, Gongenzaka nodded seriously. “You have a good look in your eye,” he said. “I’ll be looking forward to our match.” Yuya squirmed a little, a pleased, embarrassed grin on his face. 

 

“That’s if you’re lucky enough to face each other before you face me,” Yuzu said, crossing her arms and cocking one hip. 

 

Yuya and Gongenzaka both laughed a little nervously. According to the gossip Rin had picked up, Yuzu had them both beat, when she put her mind to it. “Not... necessarily,” Yuya said. “This is tournament is going to be a little different. I heard about it from Reiji. Well, you’ll have to wait and see.” 

 

‘Different? Aside from the combat force selection?’ Rin thought. That was the part Reiji had told her about, that the anti-Academia force would be selected from the finalists... ‘Don’t think about that.’ 

 

“Hm, is that so...” Yuzu drew out. But she seemed willing to let it go for now, busy scanning the room. “By the way, why is Sawatari trying to set you on fire with his eyes?”

 

Yuya followed her gaze, and turned away again quickly, cringing. Sawatari, standing with the large group that must have been the LDS contingent, was indeed glaring bitterly at Yuya. “Urgh... he was my fourth matching for getting my average high enough to qualify,” he muttered furtively. Needless to say, Yuya had won. “You think he’s got a grudge?”

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Rin advised. Focusing on Sawatari, she waited until he felt the weight of her stare and looked at her instead. Then, she smirked pointedly. 

 

The message was unmistakable, and Sawatari immediately switched targets, gnashing his teeth as he glared at her instead. 

 

Looking away with a genuine smirk, Rin patted Yuya on the shoulder, while Yuzu chuckled at their antics. “Oh! There he is!” Yuzu exclaimed suddenly. “Dennis! Over here!” 

 

She was beckoning to someone just past the LDS group, where several foreigners were standing together. One of them, a tall young man with orange hair, waved back and hurried over. “Yuzu! Yuya! And...” He trailed off in surprise as he caught sight of Rin. 

 

Somehow, she’d forgotten that she and Yuzu had the same face. It had become something natural. 

 

Shaking off his surprise, Dennis smiled. “And you must be Rin,” he concluded. “Yuzu’s sister?” 

 

“...Hiiragi Rin,” she said, which was what Reiji had put on her duelist registration. It felt weird on her tongue, but not bad. Just strange. A Commons orphan like her wasn’t supposed to have two names, but Yuzu was beaming next to her, gaze a little distant, and that was more than good enough. 

 

“Yuzu told me all about you,” Dennis said warmly. “I hear you’re an incredible duelist. Synchro, right? I use Xyz myself.” 

 

“That’s right! Dennis even agreed to teach me, and Yuya,” Yuzu added, pulling out of her thoughts. “He dropped by You Show when he got to Maiami... from Broadway, right? It turns out he’s a big fan of Yuya’s dad! So we got to talking, and... I’m really grateful!” 

 

“Me too!” Yuya seconded. “Thanks to Dennis, and Rin and Sora, I figured out so much about Pendulum. I’m gonna stay on top of the game even when... um, well, you’ll see.” He coughed awkwardly, trying to cover up his near stumble. 

 

Yuzu nudged him teasingly but didn’t press. “It’s too bad Sora couldn’t make it,” she said instead, glancing at Rin. “Do you think he’ll be able to watch at least?” 

 

“I hope so,” Rin said. She also hoped her voice didn’t shake or give anything away. 

 

The speakers cracked as they came on, making their little group and everyone around them fall silent and look up. As someone among the organizers began to read off directions, Dennis and Gongenzaka waved goodbye and headed off to their own positions, and the mass of participants started to solidify into rough lines. 

 

It was time to make their grand entrance and begin the Maiami Championship. 

 

~.~.~

 

“—from the You Show Dueling School, give a big round of applause to Hiiragi Yuzu! Hiiragi Rin! Aaaand Sakaki Yuyaaaa!” 

 

The duelists were announced by school, and You Show was one of the last, only the LDS students remaining waiting in the wings as they finally marched outside, into deafening cheers of the crowd. 

 

The cheering was undeniably loudest for Yuya, as expected, given that the duel against Ishijima and the Pendulum hoopla were still fresh in many minds. He led their short line outside to another swell of shouting, with Yuzu and then Rin in the back following and carrying their school’s banner between them. 

 

Well, it wasn’t Rin’s school, precisely, but still. She was glad she wasn’t going out there alone. The roar of the crowd had hit her almost like a shockwave, leaving her shocked and blinking as they stepped out into the bright sunlight. Ahead, Rin shock her a quick encouraging smile before turning back to the crowd. 

 

Fireworks were exploding overhead, and giant Solid Vision projects of them, the You Show logo, and a few choice clips of Yuya vs Ishijima were playing for the audience. Rin craned head to get a glimpse of the last, having never seen the actual duel, but Yuzu tugged her along with the banner stretched between them. 

 

It was... overwhelming. If she’d been on a D-Wheel, she would have swerved at least a little for sure. 

 

It was amazing, and Rin realized she was grinning widely. 

 

The announcer had continued to speak as they made their way to their spot, but the words had been drowned out. It was only as the last cheer for You Show began to quiet that Rin’s ears cleared enough to make out what he was saying. 

 

“—Please welcome our visitors from around the world!” the announcer was saying. “Give a big hand for the representatives of LDS’s international campuses!” 

 

The line that followed them out was a mismatched one, even compared to You Show, much less to schools like Knights of Duels with their armor-like uniforms. Every person in the short procession wore a completely different outfit, representing their respective regions. Dennis, bringing up in the rear, looking almost plain by comparison. His gaze lingered on You Show for a moment, but like a good performer, he focused on the crowd. 

 

“And finally! Saving the best for last! Our very own L! D! S!!” 

 

The response was overwhelming, as the long procession of the Leo Duel School snaked out onto the stadium field. The combined forces of LDS nearly outnumbered the other participants combined, their dominance undeniable. Despite grinning and waving like he was the main star, Sawatari spared them a bitter glare, until the Synchro duelist Rin remembered from Yuya’s second qualification match shoved him onward. 

 

To match the other schools, the LDS contingent had to break into several shorter rows, forming a rough rectangle, but finally all the participants were gathered. 

 

Glancing around and mentally tallying up the numbers, something finally occurred to Rin. 

 

“...Just how long is this tournament going to be?” she wondered aloud, barely able to hear herself over the noise of the crowd. “It’ll take at least a week to get through all these matches.” 

 

“Closer to two,” Yuzu judged, almost yelling back. “But that can’t be right. The championship’s only scheduled for three days. They even cut it shorter than originally planned.” 

 

“Just wait and see!” Yuya called out, leaning toward them. He was almost bouncing in an anticipation. “Look, here comes Reiji!” 

 

Indeed, the large Solid Vision displays overhead showed the Leo Corporation CEO stepping up next to the announcer, his expression as bland as always. But for once, his wet blanket nature was somehow amusing, and Rin snickered a little. He’d probably have the same look at his own wedding. 

 

“Here to explain the special format of the championship, please welcome our sponsor and organizer, and eminent duelist in his own right, Akaba Reijiiiii!” the announcer called out, smoothly stepping aside and passing the mic. 

 

Either his default glare or his very presence made the audience fall respectfully silent. Rin could suddenly hear her heart pounding in her ears. Anticipation was almost stifling, thick in the air. 

 

“Since our founding more than a decade ago, Leo Corporation has pushed dueling to new heights,” Reiji began, his voice echoing heavily across the stadium. “Real Solid Vision. Action Fields and Action Duels. Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz summoning. With every evolution of dueling, we have been at the forefront. And we will remain in the lead, with the newest, greatest next step as well.”

 

He paused, and instinctively, Yuzu and Rin glanced toward Yuya, his face raised up toward the holograms. 

 

“Pendulum Summoning,” Akaba Reiji pronounced. 

 

A ripple of excitement ran through the audience, building and building. 

 

“Working together with Sakaki Yuya of You Show, Leo Corporation has completed development of new Pendulum cards,” Reiji went on. As half the screens switched to him, Yuya jumped slightly, but he straightened his shoulders and grinned, justifiably proud. “This tournament is the official unveiling, and every participant will be one of the first users. Together, we take the next step forward with courage!”

 

The excitement and anticipation erupted, the entire stadium seemingly shaking with the roar of the approving crowd. 

 

“Pendulum! Pendulum! Pendulum!” 

 

“LDS! LDS! LDS!” 

 

One chant laid over another, along with many others, a word here and there becoming intelligible before fading into the ear-splitting cacophony. 

 

Still stone-faced despite his plan’s success, Reiji stepped back. 

 

“The format will be Battle Royal! The field — Maiami City!” the announcer shouted off the specifics. A map of the city’s eastern coastal districts appeared next to his image. “With the Action Field generators installed across the city, the four fields of Quartet of Quandary will be projected around the LDS campus! Truly, the modern evolution of Battle City!! 

 

“Each participant will receive two Pendulumstatue cards, which will be wagered in their duels! Losing both cards means elimination! The time limit is six hours! Those still standing will be the winners!” 

 

Those remaining would find out the truth and be asked to fight. 

 

But that knowledge was far from Rin’s mind. Throwing back her head, she cheered with the crowd, unable to hear her own voice but yelling her lungs out. The smile was almost painfully wide on her lips, and next to her, Yuzu and Yuya shared the same grin. 

 

Her duel disk buzzed with additional information — the division of areas between the simultaneous Junior Youth and Youth battle royals, the area she would be transported to and the number of the charter bus to take here there, details about the Pendulum cards she was to receive. 

 

Across Maiami, wide-scale Real Solid Vision projectors whirred to life, and the four-type Action Field swept down the streets, as the residents pressed against their windows to watch. 

 

“Duelists locked in battle! Kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters!” the announcer and the crowd chanted. “They storm through this field! Behold! This is the newest and greatest evolution of Dueling!”

 

What would come after didn’t matter. This was just a tournament, just dueling. 

 

Here, she would smile and bring joy with her friends. And then, they would face the truth and the danger that waited beyond their worlds, together. 

 

~.~.~


	17. 1:3 The others II

**Notes:** Villain interlude! I know that in canon, only Yuzu’s bracelet has a clear function, teleporting the boys apart. I saw a cool explanation that this is because En Flowers, which it’s made from, has a monster destruction effect (removing them from the field), while En Moon, En Winds, En Birds just negate monster effects. 

 

I’m ignoring that. Yeah. 

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 17: The others II**

 

Dread and fear were the two emotions all Academia students felt when before the Professor, even those who had only been in his presence during mass gatherings, safely hidden among the crowd. Those two emotions were nearly synonymous with their leader, and just the idea of being summoned before him sent a cold shiver down every soldier’s spine. 

 

This was the first time Yuri had shared those experiences, and he was not enjoying the sensation in the least. It was also, after all, the first time he had failed a mission. 

 

Remembering that failure made his fists clench, nails digging into his palms, even as his expression remained carefully unaffected. 

 

What had she done? What had that damn girl done to get away from him? She had seemed so helpless, struggling in that futile way. It had been amusing, a fun diversion in an otherwise boring if vital mission — until she had just vanished, leaving Yuri blinking the blinding light from his eyes and realizing with a growing hollowness in his gut that he was going to return to the Professor empty handed. 

 

Where had she gone? Without knowing where to cast his line, the bait he’d taken back with him just for her would go to waste. And if he couldn’t track her down, he couldn’t rectify his misstep and redeem himself in the Professor’s eyes. 

 

Unacceptable. Of course the Professor wouldn’t dispose of him for just one blemish on his outstanding record, Yuri was still his strongest soldier, but... 

 

The feeling of trepidation as he stepped into the Professor’s throne room just wouldn’t go away. For the first time, Yuri didn’t dare to raise his head and look the Professor in the eye. He bowed, biting his lip to keep his demands and pleas from spilling out. 

 

Give me another chance, I’ll bring her back this time, he almost begged. But that was how weaklings acted. He wasn’t weak. He wasn’t. 

 

“Yuri,” the Professor acknowledged him, letting Yuri straighten from his bow. “I have a new mission for you.” 

 

A new mission. On the one hand, that meant the Professor still had confidence in his skills and he was to be given another chance. On the other... the previous mission was not yet complete. 

 

Yuri hesitated and finally settled on neutrally confirming, “Yes, Professor.” 

 

“Dennis has reported he found the last girl, Hiiragi Yuzu. You are to retrieve her from Standard,” the Professor said. There was nothing to be gleaned from his tone, but his eyes narrowed slightly, something about his gaze even heavier than usual. “Yuri. This time, don’t play around. Take her by surprise, before she can react, to avoid any... complications.” 

 

“Yes, Professor,” Yuri repeated, lowering his head repentantly. Damn that girl for humiliating him like this... It would have perhaps been wisest to let his previous failure lie unmentioned and simply focus on proving himself again. But in the end, he could stop himself from asking, “And about the Synchro girl? Is there any news on her whereabouts?”

 

There was something considering in the Professor’s silence. This was a test, more than everything was always a test at Academia. 

 

“Dennis believes she is in Standard as well. He will confirm in his final report, when he gives the go ahead to mobilize,” the Professor said. Standard? How had she gotten to Standard...? “I will be dispatching the Obelisk Force to deal with her. It is no longer your concern.” 

 

This was a test. What was the correct answer? 

 

The same answer that was always correct. 

 

“Yes, Professor.” Yuri bowed again. 

 

Almost imperceptibly, the pressure eased a little. He had passed, for now. “You will depart at the same time as the Obelisk Force, once Dennis gives his final report,” the Professor said, leaning back in his chair. “Dismissed.” 

 

It was enough to let Yuri straighten and stride out of the audience room proudly. But as soon as the doors closed behind him, his calm, confident expression shifted into a scowl. 

 

Leave it to the Obelisk Force? He couldn’t accept that. If they succeeded where he had failed, it was like admitting that they were somehow superior to him. There was no one stronger than Yuri, no one better. 

 

However, disobeying the Professor’s orders was also out of the question. If he forewent his own assignment to chase after the Synchro grl, there was no telling of the consequences. It was unthinkable. Perhaps if he quickly captured his own target and then doubled back for her — as long as she managed to avoid the Obelisk Force until then. Hopefully, she would prove as adept at avoiding them as she had with him. 

 

Damn her. Yuri had never felt this kind of gnawing rage toward anyone before. But then, he had never allowed anyone to take something from him before either. 

 

He would get it back, what she had taken from him...

 

A sudden, cruel smirk split his face as a nice thought occurred to him. He had taken something from her in return, hadn’t he? 

 

He would never admit it, but Yuri had been taken completely off guard, that night. His target had vanished into thin air, and then a strange boy with the same face as him had crashed into Yuri, fists already flying. Those Synchro types were quite violent, weren’t they? Of course, Yuri was no pushover either. But standing over his double’s unconscious body after knocking him out, he’d hesitated. 

 

Returning empty handed had been unthinkable. And maybe this boy — What was his name again? Well, it didn’t really matter... — would know something about where his little friend had disappeared to, what she had done. So instead of carding him for his foolishness in attacking Yuri, he’d dragged his counterpart with him to Academia. 

 

It turned out to be a waste of time. The boy didn’t know anything useful at all, as scanning his memories had shown. 

 

Yuri had supposed he would eventually be used as bait for the girl, once her whereabouts were discovered, but for the time being, he had lost interest and dumped his... souvenir in the holding cells. 

 

Now, he couldn’t really use the boy because he would need to move quickly. It seemed such a shame to let all that effort go to waste, not even letting that damn girl know what had happened to her dear friend. If he just told her, there was a good chance she wouldn’t believe him, and it would lack that special touch of seeing something with your own eyes... 

 

“Oh!” Yuri mimed hitting one palm with the opposite fist. “The deck!” 

 

That cutesy witch deck his double had been carrying. According to his memories, it was actually the girl’s. She’d recognize it and what it meant. It would be perfect, to throw it in her face and see what kind of expression she’d make. 

 

The thought of it finally raised his mood. Humming tunelessly to himself, he turned on his heel and headed down to the holding cells. 

 

~.~.~

 

Biting her lip, Serena willed the guard to just nod off, or take a bathroom break, or just go for a walk already. 

 

Normally, she would have personally reported any Academia student engaging in that kind of undisciplined behavior. They were soldiers of a noble cause. They needed to hold themselves to a higher standard. But at this moment, she needed the kind of opening created by simple human error. 

 

‘Maybe I should just try to bluff my way in,’ she thought, not for the first time. 

 

Everyone knew she received special treatment from the Professor. It was one of the reasons why none of the other students would interact with her. If she acted confidently enough, maybe she could just walk straight past the guard and glare down any attempt he made to question her... 

 

But that was a last resort. If he turned out to have enough backbone to refuse her entry, the commotion might get back to the Professor, and that was the last thing Serena wanted. 

 

Recently, Serena had overhead something interesting. 

 

The Professor’s top student, Yuri, had brought back a prisoner. The details varied depending on who was passing along the rumor, but the very fact that this prisoner existed had to mean something. Academia took no prisoners. They had no use for them. 

 

Serena wanted to know why this person was special. If she could wedge her way into whatever top-secret mission this must have related to, this could become her chance to prove herself. 

 

And unlike sneaking off the island, sneaking into the jail block was at least feasible. She just needed a chance...

 

A chance that was finally here. The guard at the jail block’s single entrance was finally, finally moving away from his post. Just a little, turning to greet someone and taking a few steps away from the guard post — but it was enough. 

 

Darting out of the passage she had been hiding in, Serena silently slipped into the corridor down to the holding cells. 

 

They lined the long hallway on both sides, all empty and dark — except for one at the end. The lock on the bars was glowing there, and as Serena approached, a figure came into view, sitting slumped against the back wall. 

 

That tightly fitted white suit was no Academia uniform, not even a modified one like Serena’s. Not a student being punished, then. An outsider. 

 

Wetting her lips, Serena squared her shoulders and called out harshly, “Hey, you.” 

 

“‘S not ‘you,’ it’s Yugo,” the boy muttered rebelliously, but he slowly lifted his head and squinted against the gloom of the jail block. He blinked, his brow furrowing as he stared at Serena. 

 

“Who are you?” she demanded, ignoring the strange expression taking over his face. “Why did Yuri bring you here? Answer me!” 

 

“Rin!” 

 

Thrown off guard by the non-answer, Serena was slow to react when the boy — Yugo — suddenly jumped to his feet and lunged for the bars. Thrusting his arm out between them, he managed to grab hold of Serena’s wrist before she could pull away. 

 

Stupid, she cursed herself, for standing so close to the bars. She should have thought of this. 

 

“Rin! What are you doing here? Are you okay?” Yugo was babbling, shoving through his other arm as well and grabbing her hand in both of his. She couldn’t twist free. 

 

“Who the hell is Rin? Let go of me!” she snarled and kicked him in the shins. 

 

He groaned but barely wavered, as if the blow was normal for him. “What are you talking about, Rin?” he demanded. “Did that guy get you too? Or did you come to rescue me? Right, because you’re on the other side of the bars! So hurry up and get me out!” 

 

“I’m not Rin, I’m Serena!” she protested again, getting angry in earnest now. Instead of trying to pull away, she grabbed a fistfull of his white suit and dragged him flat against the bars. “I’ve never seen you before! And keep it down! The guard’ll hear you!” 

 

“Huh? What are you talking about, Rin? You think I can’t recognize you?” he asked, unconcerned by the manhandling — and still not believing her. “I mean, you didn’t even take off your... huh? Your bracelet looks weird.” 

 

He tilted the hand he had grasped between his own, staring in confusion at the silver band around her wrist. It was, from Serena’s perspective, the same as always. But if it finally convinced him she wasn’t this Rin, that was good enough for her. Maybe now she could finally get some answers—

 

Serena froze. 

 

Now that they were quiet, she could hear something that made her back stiffen — footsteps, coming closer. The jail block was far isolated from other parts of the school, so no one would casually head down toward it. There was almost no chance that whoever was coming closer would just pass by. 

 

She absolutely couldn’t be seen here. But there was no exit and nowhere to hide. And, more urgently, the idiot just wouldn’t let go! 

 

“S-someone is coming!” Serena hissed at him. “Come on, get off already!” 

 

“What?! Get me out! Come on, hurry!” 

 

She wasn’t going to do that. She’d rather be caught sneaking around than betray the Academia like that. 

 

But she didn’t want to be caught either. The Professor would confine her to her rooms again, just like three years ago. She couldn’t go back to that, always locked away, wasting away and losing every chance of ever spreading her wings. 

 

Anything but that! There had to be some way out—!

 

A violet light flared, blinding. It was coming from the gem on her bracelet. Just as the footsteps reached the jail block, the light reached its peak. 

 

And the two of them disappeared. 

 

~.~.~

 

“Sir!” The guard in front of the detention block saluted sharply as Yuri stopped next to him. His expression of barely contained unease made Yuri’s smile widen. He seemed a little too worried, didn’t he? Almost... guilty. 

 

Probably some nonsense like slacking off on the job. Yuri had no interest in acting as prefect, but the reactions were amusing. 

 

“Relax, relax,” he said with false levity, waving his hand. “I’m just here to pick up something from our special visitor’s belongings — his deck. Fetch it for me, will you?” 

 

He considered stepping in to gloat a little, about how he was going to drag his double’s little girlfriend in soon and hand her over to the Professor. But he didn’t really have time for that, not when they could receive the order to deploy at any time. 

 

Well, there was always later. It would be a fun way to kill time, watching his own face distort with expressions he would never make. 

 

The guard didn’t ask for any confirmation of his right to claim their prisoner’s deck, just as the other guards hadn’t questioned Yuri’s right to stroll into the jail as he wished. They hadn’t dared. With slightly jerky, shaky movements, he just hurried over to the small guard station and quickly keyed in the code to unlock the cupboards meant to hold detainees’ belongings. 

 

“Here you are, sir,” he said, deferentially holding out the deck with both hands. 

 

Yuri took a moment to fan out the cards, confirming that they were the same cutesy witches he remembered. He held them a moment longer than necessary, watching the guard sweat out of the corner of his eye. 

 

“Thanks,” he said finally, as the tension seemed just about to break. He beamed, in a way that never failed to evoke the entirely wrong reaction. “Keep up the good work... okay?” 

 

Or else Yuri would personally deal with him. Failure was unacceptable in Academia. That was why Yuri would never allow himself to fail. He’d get back at her, no matter what. 

 

~.~.~


	18. 1:3 The hunt begins

**Notes:** This is terrible! I hate Battle Royals! We have too many characters. ...Time to get rid of them~ :) 

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 18: The hunt begins**

 

Despite the card image, the four fields of Quartet of Quandary were laid out in a semicircle, with the arctic field on the northern half the coast, the jungle on the southern half, and the volcano and the ruins wedged between them. 

 

The LDS tower stood where all four wedges came together, and it was to the LDS tower that the participants were initially shuttled from the stadium. The Junior Youth would start off there and use the inner half of the fields, while the Youth division, who would be using the outer half, would be separated into four groups and taken to separate starting locations in each field. 

 

“Should we stick together or go to separate areas?” Yuzu asked quietly, leaning over to Rin. Yuya, sitting across the aisle from them next to Gongenzaka, leaned over too. 

 

“What’s the point of sticking together?” Rin said. “It’ll just mean less Action Cards for everyone. I don’t like heat or cold or too much nature, so I’m going to the ruins area.” 

 

“So decisive,” Yuzu chuckled, unsurprised. “Then I’ll take the jungle, I guess.”

 

“Hey, I wanted jungle!” Yuya complained. 

 

Yuzu sighed and waved her hand dismissively. “Fine, fine, I’ll take the arctic.”

 

It was probably not too wise to announce their plans like that. Yuya, especially, was famous enough that any number of competitors might purposefully target him. There was definitely a sensation of heavy, not entirely friendly stares on them. 

 

But neither Yuzu nor Yuya seemed fazed by the attention. If anything, their grins had an edge of excitement and anticipation, a drive to take all challengers. 

 

Rin felt it too. As Shuzo would have said — their spirits were burning. 

 

~.~.~

 

“And START! The starting bell has rung on the Quartet!” the announcer’s voice rang out across the stadium, and through every device of those watching from their homes. The giant Solid Vision screens flickered between multiple views of each field as duelists, receiving the same start signal, made their move. 

 

“The first battles are beginning! In the jungle field, we have Ryozanpaku’s Kachidoki Isao challenging Sakaki Yuya! In the volcano field, Gongenzaka Noboru versus Ankokuji Gen! And they’re betting two cards off the bat?! In the same field, Hochun Mieru ambushing Shijima Hokuto! In the arctic field, Mikiyo Nanami versus Hiiragi Yuzu! Oh, excuse me, Halil Pasha from Anatolia is intruding, making it a three way! Looks like he didn’t expect the intrusion penalty...” 

 

It was a dizzying flurry of duels as opponents who had been waiting for their chance sprang into action. The announcer was scrambling to keep up, and so were the hidden broadcast crews working the video streams. 

 

“Oooh! It looks like we have our first loss of the tournament! Rin takes out Yaiba with a brutal one turn KO! Since they only wagered one card, he’s still, but that’s got to sting LDS’s pride!” 

 

The central monitor switched to show Clear Wing pulling out of its Helldive Slasher, roaring in triumph as its opponent was sent tumbling head over heels from the backlash of a devastating attack. LDS Synchro course’s Todo Yaiba rolled to his feet and, scowling, threw a card toward Rin, who accepted it with a smirk. 

 

Knowing she was being observed, she thrust her fist toward the sky in a victory pose. Together with the high bridge she had chosen to camp out on, the image was of an impassable peak — or perhaps a villain guarding the gate to freedom. 

 

“Rematch! Let’s go again!” Yaiba protested, his voice projected with the video. He furiously waved around his second Pendulumstatue card — as ante. “That was a fluke! A fluke!” 

 

Smirking, Rin shrugged and gestured for him to bring it on. 

 

Having returned to the control center deep in LDS, Reiji mentally dismissed that screen and that match. ‘The ordinary students can’t match true summoning after all,’ he thought, steepling his hands. Expected, if still disappointing. But he was already well aware of Rin’s strength as a duelist. Despite his personality, Sawatari was a competent duelist, and defeating him twice, especially so decisively, was not a simple feat. 

 

On the subject of Sawatari, he had forced himself into the match between Yuya and Kachidoki. A missed opportunity. Both were powerful duelists whom Reiji had wanted to observe under the pressure of the closest to real combat they could simulate without revealing their hand. Unfortunate but unavoidable, Sawatari was nigh uncontrollable at times. 

 

Several other duels were beginning or picking up steam as well, and Reiji scanned them quickly for anything out of the ordinary. The outcomes themselves were not something he held stake in. What mattered was finding the strongest among the current generation. Who they were didn’t concern him. 

 

No, what concerned him was the possibility of... outside interference. 

 

He glanced at the four feeds that were carefully being censored from the public broadcasts and the announcers prompts — the four wildcards, who had no official place in the tournament but were loose out in the fields. 

 

Hikage and Tsukikage. Kurosaki Shun. And Yuto. 

 

Letting someone as reckless as Kurosaki out among the still civilian participants was a gamble, but Reiji needed his and his partner’s honed senses. 

 

It would be suicidally foolish to assume that Academia was not aware of Hiiragi Yuzu and Rin, who were clear targets, and Sakaki Yuya, whose position in his father’s plans Reiji still did not understand. At worst, they could even be aware of the Xyz survivors and Yuto, who was in the same unknown state as Yuya. And if there was ever a time to mount a blitz strike into Standard to obtain those targets, this would be it. 

 

He needed the ninjas and the war-hardened Xyz pair out there, searching for any sign of Academia action. He would just have to control any fallout as best possible. 

 

“And we have our first elimination!” the announcer blared, his voice tinny from being nearly muted. “Too bad for Yaiba, but maybe challenging her twice wasn’t too wise. You Show’s Hiiragi Rin stands victorious as the superior Synchro duelist!” 

 

Not even pretending to be anything except a C-list villain at this point, Rin threw back her head and cackled. Clear Wing, landing behind her, roared in triumph and challenge. 

 

“Come on! I’ll take you all on!” she declared from on high. 

 

At least her position on one of the bridges across Maiami’s largest river made it easy to see anyone approaching her. It also made it easy to find her in the first place, of course. 

 

A movement from the very wildcard he had been considering with uncertainty caught his attention. “Put me through to ‘Falcon,’” he ordered one of the operators, who hastened to obey. What had set Kurosaki off? Based on his position... Hiiragi Yuzu, brilliantly finishing off her last opponent with her new ace — her Xyz ace. 

 

“Kurosaki, she’s not your sister,” Reiji said quietly but sharply, leaning closer to the microphone in the desk. “Stay out of sight.” 

 

On the other end of the line, Kurosaki made an irritated noise, but he didn’t disagree and stepped back into cover, away from the unknowing participants. Taking his finger off the microphone’s on button, Reiji let out a silent breath. 

 

At this rate, including Rin and Yuzu among the Lancers would be a difficult situation. Not just because it would render Kurosaki unreliable in combat, but given her personality, Rin wouldn’t react well to him projecting. Neither would Yuzu, after a certain point. 

 

Emotions had a way of making a mess of everything. That was why Reiji had long since locked his away. He couldn’t afford to be so unreliable, swayed by every memory and reminder. 

 

“Communication from ‘Knight,’” an operator reported. 

 

Reiji had half expected them to refuse to call him even if a problem did arise. So this could only be bad news. Without allowing himself to hesitate, Reiji tapped at the controls to open the channel. 

 

“There’s a problem,” Yuto said without preamble, his voice low. “I just spotted two Obelisk Force teams and an officer. I can’t tell who from this distance, but the custom uniform is a giveaway. They’re serious.” 

 

Reiji’s gaze cut sharply to the operators, but one of them shook her head. “It’s no good, we can’t pull up any cameras around his location.” 

 

Judging by the displays, that was in the jungle field. “They’re splitting up,” Yuto reported, while Reiji took stock. “I can only follow one team.” 

 

“Don’t. Head toward Rin,” Reiji ordered quickly. “Regroup with her and let her know the situation. Let her know we’re activating the Real Solid Vision function we put in her duel disk, just in case. Hikage and Tsukikage will tail them, and we’ll dispatch elite teams to intercept.” 

 

The question was, who was the target of this raid? At least this way Kurosaki’s hovering around Yuzu would be beneficial. 

 

Mentally lining up his plans, Reiji begin to issue commands to the operations team, “Start diverting the public video feeds from Rin and Hiiragi Yuzu to other duelists. Screen the announcer’s feeds too. I want a focus on them, and Sakaki Yuya too. Let me know the instance something changes with any of them. Appraise Hikage and Tsukikage of the situation. And send a text to Rin, tell her to get somewhere less open.” 

 

From here on out, they would all be flying blind — the first real test of whether the Lancers could survive. 

 

~.~.~

 

Rin listened, silent and serious, as Yuto explained the situation. 

 

Closing her eyes, she took a moment to curse inwardly. Why did they have to come now? Why couldn’t they have waited? And so many people were in danger too. Even if Leo Corp had all but cleared out the residents of the battle royal area, the other duelists were still there, completely unaware... She could feel Yuto’s patient, sympathetic gaze on her. Compared to what had happened to his home, this was only the beginning. 

 

“Right,” she said, pushing away all those thoughts. “Let’s go. We’ll head them off. They’ll probably after me, so let’s give them something to chase.” Reiji wouldn’t like it, but that was Reiji’s problem. She had never agreed to make him her boss. 

 

“What? But... do you understand how much danger you’ll be in?” Yuto protested. 

 

He’d raised his voice, but even so he was quieter than Yugo’s normal speaking tone. Standing in the shadows, all dark clothing and furrowed expressions, he felt like a ghost — wearing Yugo’s face. It couldn’t be natural, not even to him. He must have been different once, before Academia invaded the Xyz dimension. 

 

She wouldn’t let them do that to Standard, to Yuzu and Yuya. 

 

“Yeah, I know,” Rin said, crossing her arms. “But what’s the other option? The way you talk about these guys, they’re not just going to sneak around. If they run into anyone, they’ll turn them into card, right? I’m not going to let the others in the tournament get hurt when they don’t even know what’s coming. I can at least draw these guys away.” 

 

“Akaba Reiji will send forces to stop them,” Yuto said. 

 

“And how long will it take them to get here?” Rin shot back. Her lips thinned unhappily. “And how long do you think they’ll last? LDS duelists aren’t that strong. But you know how to fight them, right? I’ll support you too. We’ve got the best chance.” 

 

Yuto knew she was right, but his frown said all too clearly that he didn’t like it. “I... don’t want you to get hurt,” he admitted quietly. 

 

Oh. Right. “I’m not your Ruri,” Rin said flatly. 

 

“I know, but still...” He avoided her eyes. 

 

She wanted to get mad, but wouldn’t it be hypocritical, when she was just thinking about how much she hated seeing such a tired look on Yugo’s face? Even now, she wanted to reach out and prod the deep furrow between his brows, press it out until he complained about being bullied or laughed or anything at all that wasn’t that terrible expression. 

 

Rin sighed. “Then you better stick close and duel well,” she said. “But if you slow me down, I’ll kick your ass!” 

 

The best way to protect someone was to be by their side. Being separated from them was the worst. There was no telling what would happen to them while you weren’t there. 

 

Yuto stared at her in surprise for a moment, his eyes widening in a way that finally made him look his age. Then, he smiled — just a little. 

 

~.~.~


	19. 1:3 Unavoidable battle

**Notes:** I hate writing duels?? But I couldn’t find a way to summarize or skim over it quickly. I’ll definitely drop the next few, I swear, because this was ridiculous, it’s twice as long as a normal chapter.... 

 

Incidentally, in the anime, the Obelisk dudes somehow keep using each other’s Spark Shot. I think they might be considered a tag team? But in this case, it’s a straight Battle Royal, so no one shares fields or anything like that. 

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 19: Unavoidable battle**

 

They had been moving swiftly toward the jungle field, Rin in the open and Yuto in the shadows parallel to her, when it started. 

 

She broke stride suddenly, staring in surprise at her bracelet. The green gem in the center was glowing brighter and brighter. It had never done that before, and Rin couldn’t imagine what it could mean — but it had to mean something. It wasn’t just the face the counterparts shared, after all. They all had a bracelet too. 

 

“What’s wrong?” Yuto asked, rushing to her side. 

 

Rin looked up, opening her mouth to answer. Their eyes met and then, just as the green light flared...

 

He disappeared. 

 

“...Huh?” She stared in confusion at the place Yuto had been standing. Tentatively, she reached out and waved her hand through the empty air there. What just happened? It felt like her thoughts had jammed from the abruptness of it. 

 

Rin jerked as someone burst into the intersection just ahead. Catching sight of her as well, he scrambled to turn and ran toward her. It was Yuya, and he waved frantically to her, a distracted look on his face. “Rin!” he called out. “Hey! How’s it going?” 

 

For a moment, Rin wasn’t even sure how to answer. “I... okay,” she said finally, as Yuya stopped next to her. Shaking her head, she tried to pull herself together. “And you? You look... like you’re getting chased.”

 

It couldn’t be the Academia guys, right? Rin thought with a flash of fear. Yuya had been in the jungle field. 

 

But Yuya just laughed awkwardly. “...Yeah, that’s about what’s happening,” he admitted, glancing nervously back the way he’d come. “It’s like everyone is after me! I didn’t think it would be this bad. I’m happy to show off my stuff, but I need a breather. Especially from Sawatari...” He waved his hand as if fanning himself. 

 

Right. Right, the championship. “Sounds like you’re having a rough time,” Rin said, forcing on a smile. “If the pressure’s too much, you can always just give me your cards and sit it out.” 

 

“Pff— Not a chance! The fun is just getting started!” Yuya shot back, puffing up. However, his confidence drained away quickly, and he sheepishly added, “...After this break. Rin! Please cover for me! I’ll pay you back later, I promise!” 

 

“Okay, sure,” Rin lied. 

 

She didn’t really have time to deal with Yuya’s popularity woes, but she needed to get him away from the danger area as quickly as possible. 

 

“Thanks! Do you want a card to wager? Or a few, actually? I have a bunch now,” Yuya said, waving a fairly impressive stack of Pendulumstatue cards he’d won off his overwhelming number of challengers. 

 

“Nah, it’s fine. I’m not going to lose anyway,” Rin called back, already headed the way he had come. “Just head toward the volcano field and find a place to lie low, okay?” 

 

They had barely parted ways when her duel disk rang. The call function was supposed to be disabled for the duration of the championship, but of course Reiji could reactivate it easily. “What happened?” Rin asked brusquely as she help up the duel disk to her ear. 

 

“Unclear,” Reiji replied back, just as terse. She thought she could hear frantic voices calling back and forth to each other in the background. “We’re investigating now, but it appears your bracelet reacted to Yuto and Sakaki Yuya coming into proximity and... removed one of them.” 

 

“Is he okay?” 

 

“He’s fine. He was just teleported out to the outskirts,” Reiji said. “We’re going to try to isolate the readings and create a counter resonance. If we upload it to his duel disk’s dimensional transport system, it might be able to interfere with your bracelet’s effect and keep it from reacting to his presence. We’ll do the same for Yuya’s disk too.” 

 

Rin didn’t really understand, and it didn’t sound like Reiji understood it too well either. She didn't ask for clarification. Either it would work or it wouldn’t. There was no point in worrying about it now. 

 

“Where’s those Obelisk guys?” she asked instead. “Are they still in the jungle field?” 

 

Just from the silence on the other end of the line, she could tell Reiji didn’t approve, as expected. “Don’t engage them alone,” he said finally. “It’ll be a three on one match, and they specialize in one turn kills. You understand, right? It’ll take Yuto a while to get back, but I’m sending Hikage and Tsukikage to support you. Don’t start a battle until then.”

 

“I’ll try,” Rin agreed, and ended the call. 

 

She would try, that was true. Three on one odds against trained soldiers, with her freedom on the line, wasn’t exactly something to take lightly. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t do it if it meant the difference between someone else’s life and death. 

 

~.~.~

 

She had reached the boundary between ruins and jungle when a scream brought her up short. It was terrified and piercing, and cut off sharply. More distantly, someone else yelled, the words unintelligible. 

 

‘Over there!’ Rin thought, turning sharply in the direction of the voices and taking off at a headlong sprint. Every moment counted. 

 

She burst onto the scene just as one of the duelists — the only one remaining against the three uniformed, masked soldiers — tried to break and run. She caught a glimpse of his expression, shocked and horrified, before the Ancient Gear Hunting Hounds lunged for him. 

 

The monster’s weight crushed him into the dirt, choking his frightened yells. “Wait!” Rin yelled, running toward them. 

 

The defeated championship participant’s duel disk beeped and shut off as his life points dropped to zero. The Hunting Hound vanished, along with the other monsters on the opposite side of the field. But the Academia soldiers were grinning, and one of them reached up to tap at his duel disk. 

 

“I said stop!” Rin yelled again, jumping between them and their defeated opponent. 

 

“Wait,” one of them said, grabbing the one who had stepped forward by the wrist. “That’s the target. We need to take her back undamaged.” The third lifted up his duel disk, murmuring something into a call — no doubt reporting her presence to their comrades. 

 

“Hurry up and get out of here!” Rin barked to the duelist behind her. He shuddered, only barely managing to tear his wide gaze away from the Obelisk Force squad, and scrambled to his feet. He fled, screaming and sobbing. 

 

Before they could get any ideas about following him, Rin lifted her duel disk in challenge. 

 

‘Sorry, Reiji,’ she spared a thought. 

 

But there was no helping it. She wouldn’t be able to run at this point. 

 

“I’ll go first!” Rin declared as the duel began. “Since I control no monsters, I can special summon Speedroid Terrortop from my hand. I also summon Speedroid Tri-Eyed Dice. I tune level 3 Tri-Eyed Dice with level 3 Terrortop to Synchro summon level 6 Hi-Speedroid Kendama!” 

 

It was a good hand, and she played it quickly. Too quickly — what she really needed to do was stall, before her opponents had a chance to start their 3 turns. 

 

“Who are you? What were you trying to do that guy?” she demanded. 

 

The Academia soldiers exchanged smirks, before the center one, with the red gem, answered. “We are from Academia. We will take you to the Professor. Come along quietly... or don’t. The outcome will be the same.” 

 

“Pass,” Rin said. “I’m not going to see some old creep.” 

 

Another one, with a green gem, spoke up. “You really don’t know anything? How did you manage to avoid that Yuri then?”

 

‘Yuri...’ Rin thought. That had to be the Fusion counterpart to Yugo. 

 

“That short wimp who tried to drag me off back in the City? I kicked his face in,” she shot back, with a strained, humorless smirk of her own. 

 

That startled a terse, disbelieving laugh from them, which cut off quickly. They glanced around almost guiltily, as if expecting this Yuri to appear behind them. “I don’t know what happened before,” Red said, “but you won’t get away again. We are Academia’s elite Obelisk Force. A Synchro user like you has no chance.” 

 

“We’ll see about that,” Rin shot back. “My turn isn’t over yet! I activates Kendama’s effect to banish a Speedroid Terrortop from my graveyard to do you 500 points of damage!” 

 

Red winced as Kendama’s blast hit him, but it was nothing to celebrate. 500 points was a drop in the bucket of their combined 12,000 life points. 

 

“I set a card and end my turn,” she finished. 

 

Smirking again, Red straightened. “I summon Ancient Gear Hunting Hound. Since you control a monster, I activate the effect of Hunting Hound and inflict 600 damage!” he announced, giving back what he’d taken, with interest. “Next, I activate Polymerization to fuse my Hunting Hound dog with two others from my hand and Fusion summon Triple Ancient Gear Hunting Hound!” 

 

His three headed mechanical monster roared but did not attack, since Kendama’s 2200 attack points were higher than its own 1800. 

 

“I set two cards and end my turn,” Red said. 

 

“I summon Ancient Gear Hunting Hound and activate its effect,” Green picked up where he left off. 

 

Rin winced against the next 600 points of damage she received. She could see where this was going. They all had the same decks, so she would doubtlessly take another 600 on the last soldier’s turn too. It didn’t even matter if she destroyed one of their monsters, they would just continue to chip away at her life points the next round, using some magic card to defuse or summon the material monsters from the graveyard. 

 

‘No wonder Yugo hates my burn tactics so much,’ she thought. ‘This is the worst.’ 

 

Systematic, soulless, but effective. Closing in on the opponent like clockwork. This was how an army trained to do battle and bulldoze any opponent through sheer numbers. 

 

As a duelist, it infuriated Rin. But the cold shiver of dread that went down her spine was undeniable. 

 

Instead of fusing to summon Triple Hunting Hound, Green settled for a Double Ancient Gear Hunting Hound. ‘Holding back a plain hound to summon next turn for its effect?’ Rin wondered. But quickly checking the field information on her duel disk, she could see that it was worse than that. They were probably planning to use Double Hunting Hound’s effect to place a Gear Counter on anything else she summoned and destroy it, limiting her options even further. 

 

Yellow did the same and set three cards. 

 

That meant it was finally Rin’s turn again. A fine tremor went through her hand as she reached to draw. 

 

‘This is stupid!’ she thought furiously. ‘I’ve dueled one on three before! I’m not alone! Yugo’s deck is here with me! Just pull it together!’ 

 

“I draw!” she declared. Flipping over the card, she looked at it for a moment, then nodded to herself. 

 

Just stay calm and take this one step at a time. Individually, they were weak and they relied on presenting a wall. She just needed to chop them apart one by one. 

 

“I summon Speedroid Double Yoyo,” Rin started off. She paused, pointedly looking at one of the Double Hounds — and she’d expected, the Obelisk soldiers reacted. 

 

“I activate Double Hunting Hound’s effect!” Green declared. “I place a Gear Counter on Double Yoyo!” 

 

“Your loss,” Rin snorted. “I activate Double Yoyo’s effect, which lets me special summon Tri-Eyed Dice from the graveyard. You get where this is going, right? I tune them to Synchro summon! Spread those wondrous and beautiful wings! Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!"

 

“I place a Gear Counter on Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!” Yellow followed up. 

 

Sucker. “I activate Clear Wing’s ability! If a level 5 monster activates its ability, I negate the activation and destroy it!” Rin declared. “I destroy that stupid dog of yours, and its attack points are added to Clear Wing’s until the end of the turn!” 

 

Yellow appeared unconcerned with his monster’s destruction, or Clear Wing’s growing power. “I activate face down card, Ancient Gear Reverse Fusion,” he said, as the image of a card tilted face up. “Since my Ancient Gear monster left the field by your card’s effect, I can Fusion summon a monster from my Extra Deck that lists Double Hunting Hound as material. I summon Triple Ancient Gear Hunting Hound!” 

 

Annoying, but better than Double Hound’s effect. Three attacks per turn didn’t matter if none of the attacks were strong enough. 

 

“Kendama, attack Double Hunting Hound!” Rin ordered, pointing to the remaining two-headed monster. 

 

Green snarled, but without any face down cards, it didn’t seem like there was anything he could do. 

 

Double Hound’s attack points were only 1400, and against Kendama’s 2200 attack, that was 800 points of damage to his life points. With Clear Wing’s 2500 boosted by the other dog’s 1400, she only needed that much to one turn KO him. 

 

“Clear Wing! Attack him directly!” Rin called out. “Whirlwind Helldive Slasher!” 

 

Yugo’s ace roared as it took to the sky. It sounded different than usual. 

 

Was it because of the Real Solid Vision function? In Synchro dimension, only Security was supposed to have it installed, although it naturally trickled out to those who had an interest in more real, more intense duels. Rin and Yugo had been too poor to afford modified duel disks like that. Reiji had installed it in her device based on their investigation of Sora’s confiscated duel disk, and Yuto had told her they would be remotely activating it, so she could fight back. 

 

...Or was it because this duel was different? Life or death? 

 

Clear Wing sounded like it was out for blood. 

 

The Obelisk soldier tried to scramble out of the way — it wouldn’t save his life points, but he could avoid taking the physical damage — as the cyclone crashed down onto him. It sent him flying like a ragdoll, hitting a thick tree trunk hard enough to make the Action Field image ripple. 

 

His body slid to the ground with a dull thud that made Rin wince and clench her jaw. 

 

“One down,” she forced herself to pronounce coldly. “Clear Wing’s attack points return to normal. I set a card and end my turn.” 

 

Neither of the remaining Academia soldiers seemed concerned for their comrade. “You’ve done it now, girl,” Red said, drawing his card. “You’ll pay for that! I play Ancient Gear Double Imitation to summon Ancient Gear Hunting Hound from my graveyard. Fortunately for you, its effect is negated... I use another Polymerization to fuse it with Triple Hunting Hound. Come forth! Ultimate Ancient Gear Hunting Hound!” 

 

2800 attack points. Now things were starting to get bad. 

 

“Ultimate Hunting Hound’s effect activates,” Red went on. “When it is Fusion summoned, my opponent’s LP is halved.” 

 

Rin frowned, her brow furrowing uneasily. “I use Clear Wing’s effect to negate that and destroy Ultimate Hunting Hound,” she countered. “And Clear Wing gains Ultimate Hound’s attack points until the end of the turn.” 

 

But they should have known that would happen. Why Fusion summon it at all, if it wasn’t going to do anything except get destroyed? 

 

“I activate my face down — Ancient Gear Reborn,” Red said. “Return, Ultimate Hunting Hound!” 

 

As the mechanical dog appeared on the field once more, Rin quickly checked the continuous trap’s effect It was specific: Once per turn, if he controlled no monsters, he could target an Ancient Gear monster that was sent to the graveyard that turn, and special summon it, increasing its original attack by 200.

 

All she needed to do was destroy his Ultimate Hound twice in one turn... but that was easier said than done against 3000 attack points. 

 

But first, she needed to get around its last ability. If she couldn’t activate spell or trap cards after it declared an attack, she had to do it now. 

 

“I activate my face down,” Rin shot back, “Follow Wing! I target Kendama. It can’t be destroyed in battle, and if it is targeted by a level 5 or above monster, I can destroy that monster and give its attack points to Kendama!” 

 

Stuff like this was why she’d made a burn deck against Yugo in the first place. Of course, now it was a race to see whether she could take them down before they burned through her remaining life points. 

 

Now, Ultimate Hound’s multiple attacks were useless. Clear Wing’s 5300 attack points were too high to even attempt. And if it attacked Kendama, Rin would take 800 points of damage — but Follow Wing would destroy Ultimate Hound in return, which would break Ancient Gear Reborn’s effects. 

 

Shrugging unconcernedly, Red declared, “I set a card and end my turn.” 

 

‘Too easy,’ Rin thought suspiciously. ‘What are they planning?’ 

 

“Clear Wing’s attack returns to normal,” she acknowledged, frowning. 

 

“My turn. I draw,” Yellow went on. “I attack Kendama with Triple Hunting Hound!” 

 

“What?!” Rin blurted out. Kendama’s 2200 attack was higher than Triple Hunting Hound’s 1800, and as expected, the mechanical dog shattered as they collided. The Academia soldier weathered the 400 point backlash easily and gestured broadly. 

 

“I  activate my two face down cards — Ancient Gear Reborn and Ancient Gear Spark Shot," he declared. “By Reborn’s effect, I returned Triple Hunting Hound to the field and raise its attack to 2000. And since an Ancient Gear monster was special summoned from the graveyard while I controlled no monsters, I can use Spark Shot to deal you half of Triple Hound’s attack!” 

 

The ancient cannon that represented Spark Shot creaked as it aimed its turret. The Triple Hunting Hound howled, glowing, and the cannon fired. 

 

“Guh!” Rin ducked her head against the impact of 1000 points of direct damage. 

 

Down to 1200. 

 

“I set one card face down and end my turn,” Yellow said. 

 

This was really bad. 

 

Both her opponents had face down cards. She would almost certainly take at least another thousand of direct damage on the next round, but since they had identical decks, there was a fair chance Red’s face down was another Spark Shot. 

 

If she destroyed either of their monsters, Reborn would bring it back. Against Yellow, she’d take 1000 points of damage guaranteed. Against Red, if he had Spark Shot set, it would be 1500, which she couldn’t afford. 

 

Even if she used Kendama’s effect to shave another 500 off one of them and then dealt damage through battle, it wouldn’t be enough. The single card still in her hand wouldn’t be enough. 

 

Clear Wing growled, its tail lashing. Was it angry? Impatient for battle? 

 

The important part was that it was here with her. And so was Yugo’s deck — so was Yugo. 

 

Taking a slow breath and closing her eyes, she gently placed her hand on the top card. ‘Please,’ she thought. ‘I need to make it through this. I need to get back home, to Yugo. Please help me.’ 

 

“I draw!” 

 

Hesitantly, she turned her gaze to the card — and gasped in relief. This could work. 

 

“I play Mystical Space Typhoon!” Rin declared, slotting in the card she had just drawn. “With this, I can destroy one spell or trap card, and I choose your Ancient Gear Reborn!” 

 

She pointed at Red, who gritted his teeth as the upright card shattered. 

 

“Next, I summon Speedroid Razorang and use its effect! It can change to defense position, then have a monster on the field lose 300 attack points. I target Clear Wing!” Rin went on. She could see the realization of what she was doing on the Obelisk soldiers’ faces, along with the annoyance and anger. “Clear Wing’s effect activates. Razorang is destroyed and its 2000 attack is added to Clear Wing. Now, attack Ultimate Hunting Hound!” 

 

That made for 4500 points against Ultimate Hound’s 3000. The backlash crashed against Red, sending him sliding back, although he managed to remain on his feet. Without waiting for her to declare her next move, he was already moving, dodging to get out of the way. 

 

“Now, Kendama! Direct attack!” 

 

The massive spike of Hi-Speedroid Kendama rocketed just past the Obelisk soldier, crashing through the intertwined ruins and jungle behind him. He hit the ground hard, rolling, as his life points reached zero. 

 

“Two down,” Rin muttered under her breath. Just a little more. “And last! I activate Kendama’s effect! I banish Double Yoyo from the graveyard to deal 500 points of damage!” She pointed at Yellow, the last one standing. 

 

Gone was the amusement and arrogant certainty of victory. But there was no sense of panic or unease either, as he raised his arms to shield against Kendama’s blast and his life points dropped to 3100. Rin could feel the heavy, murderous stare from behind the mask. 

 

“T-turn end,” she said, tensing instinctively. 

 

“You’re certainly a nuisance. I can see why even Yuri had trouble with you,” the last soldier told her, his voice low and cold. “But it ends here, little girl. I summon Ancient Gear Hunting Hound from my hand.” 

 

Rin winced. She already knew what that meant, and by his cruel smirk, Yellow was happy to see that. 

 

“That’s right,” he said. “I activate its first effect — you take 600 points of damage.” 

 

Covering her head with her arms, Rin ducked. Her shoulders shook, the damage feeling so much worse than at the start of the duel. Only 600 points left. At this point, she couldn’t afford to let him use Spark Shot again, she was distantly aware. 

 

“Next, I activate its second effect,” the soldier continued, coolly and mercilessly, “as long as I control another Ancient Gear monster, I can Fusion summon from my Extra deck, using just the monsters in my hand or field as materials. So I fuse Ancient Gear Hunting Hound and Triple Hunting Hound! Come forth, Ultimate Ancient Gear Hunting Hound!” 

 

‘Its effect,’ Rin remembered. ‘It’ll halve my life points. But if I use Clear Wing to negate it...’ 

 

Ultimate Hound would just return using Ancient Gear Reborn, and Spark Shot would deal her half its attack. It would be game over. 

 

There was no choice but to take it, and her opponent knew it too, watching her struggle with the realization. 

 

“Ultimate Hunting Hound’s effect activates when it is Fusion summoned,” he said with a cruel slowness. “Your life points are halved to 300.” 

 

“Aah!” Rin screamed, dropping to one knee as the barrage hit her. She could hear Clear Wing screeching, but her head was swimming. This was... this was too much. It was completely different from even the most dangerous gangs she and Yugo had faced. There was something she had to do, before it was too late, but her throat had closed and she couldn’t get the words out. 

 

“Ultimate Hunting Hound! Attack Kendama!” the last soldier declared. 

 

It was over. She couldn’t activate her set card during its attack, she couldn’t activate Clear Wing’s effect without triggering Reborn and Spark Shot, she couldn’t stop Kendama from being destroyed, she couldn’t negate the damage. 

 

‘Yugo!’ she thought desperately, tears stinging at the corners of her eyes. 

 

“Hold it right there!!” 

 

For a moment, it was almost as if her desperate prayer had been answered. And in a way, it had — but the voice was all wrong, for all that it had a similar tone of overblown self-confidence. 

 

The person standing on top a nearby ruin, looking dramatically down on the battlefield, was Sawatari. 

 

“I activate Action Magic — Mad Hurricane!” he declared, holding up the card. Action Cards... Rin had forgotten about them completely. “If you’re stuck, then flip the table and start over! Shuffle all cards you field back into the deck!” 

 

Wild winds tore through the street, shattering everything on both fields — the two continuous traps, Ultimate Hunting Hound, Kendama and Rin’s face down. Clear Wing twisted with the gale, roaring, before vanishing as well, as if taking flight. 

 

Sawatari yelped as his duel disk shocked him with the intrusion penalty. Losing his balance, he pinwheeled his arms, but couldn’t quite catch himself and tumbled down to street level with a groan. 

 

The sudden break in tension made Rin let out a breathy, shocked laugh. Scrambling to his feet, Sawatari shot her an annoyed look of wounded dignity. 

 

“Sawatari,” she said quietly, before he could start to complain, “thanks.” 

 

Blinking quickly, she reached up to wipe at her eyes. Sawatari let out a shocked, horrified sound at the sight. “D-d-don’t mention it!” he blurted out, his head snapping away. “I just couldn’t let me rival lose to a stupid set up like that! Three on one isn’t a fair match to begin with!” 

 

“Thanks,” Rin repeated, her tone soft. “But you should get out of here. This isn’t part of the tournament, Sawatari. If you lose here, you’ll lose your life.” 

 

“Wha—” 

 

“Take your deck out and run,” she went on, over his protests. “I can handle it from here.” 

 

She wasn’t really sure she could. Her life points were down to 300, and her opponent was at 3100 still. She had no cards in her hand. But she would have an open field to work with, and that was more than she had before. 

 

Sawatari stared at her, his mouth working soundlessly for a moment. And then, unexpectedly, his expression became serious. 

 

“No,” he said flatly. “I’m not leaving. I don’t get what’s going on, but I’m not going to just ditch and run while you stay and fight. Seriously? I have my pride as a duelist!” He grinned, jerking a thumb at himself. “And more importantly, I have a full hand and the next turn! So here I go!” 

 

For the first time, the Obelisk Force soldier looked afraid. Instinctively, he took a step back. 

 

“Let’s go! The real star has arrived!” Sawatari declared. “I set Scale 1 Abyss Actor - Evil Heel and Scale 8 Abyss Actor - Funky Comedian and Pendulum summon! Level 4 Abyss Actor - Wild Hope! Level 4 Abyss Actor - Sassy Rookie!” 

 

Pendulum cards... Rin was supposed to have some of those two. She had shuffled them into her deck, including the ones she’d received from her defeated opponents. But she hadn’t drawn a single one. Had Yugo’s deck refused to accept them? Or was it because she hadn’t accepted them herself. 

 

Pendulum, Action cards — those things belonged in this dimension, and unlike Sawatari, she hadn’t found the way to use them correctly. 

 

Perhaps if she had...

 

“Now, Sassy Rookie! Direct attack!” 

 

1700 points of damage. The Obelisk soldier was sent flying back with a cry. 

 

“And again! Wild Hope! Direct attack!” 

 

1600 points of damage. The second direct attack flung his body into a ruins wall, hard enough to form a crater. His duel disk blared as his life points fell to zero. He dropped, unconscious, to the ground. 

 

Since this was a Battle Royal, technically the duel wouldn’t end until only one duelist was left standing, Rin or Sawatari. But, letting out a shaky breath, Rin tapped out her surrender. 

 

“Take that! Witness the New Neo Sawatari’s power!” Sawatari crowed, throwing back his head and laughing. “...Uh. Hey, what’s going on?” 

 

Light was flaring from the duel disk of the defeated Obelisk soldier — from all three of them. Cursing herself for letting down her guard, Rin grabbed Sawatari and started to drag him back. But she needn’t have worried. The light only engulfed the three figures, and they vanished. 

 

‘Did they go back to Fusion dimension?’ Rin guessed, letting out a sigh of relief. 

 

“We made it through somehow,” she muttered. Her legs were shaking, she realized, and the mental exhaustion pressed down on her like a weight. Just one battle against a small group had been this tough... How had Kurosaki and Yuto survived on the battlefield? 

 

“...Three down, four to go.”

 

~.~.~


	20. 1:3 A mistake

**Notes:** “Mistakes were made” the chapter. Also, a logistical nightmare of “where is X character and how to I get them to Y location.” Fun fact: At least one character was spared getting carded just because I couldn’t figure out how to get them to where they’d need to be or how the timeline of it would work. 

 

(Watch me make up cards. Or rather, rename and slightly alter existing cards. And make a very small lie about one actual card’s effect.) 

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 20: A mistake**

 

The screen of Yuto’s duel disk flickered, dissolving into static. He had to look away to make the next jump across the rooftops, and when he glanced back, it was already rebooting. The screen looked the same, with the exception of a small icon in the corner. 

 

A call connected without prompting. “The upload is complete, and it’s running now,” Reiji’s voice, a little muffled, relayed from the other end of the line. “The program will project a weak field that should interfere with the bracelets identifying you, at least according to our analysis. We’re remotely uploading the same program to Sakaki Yuya’s duel disk... but it’s not guaranteed to work. Avoid him if you can.” 

 

“Understood,” Yuto said shortly. 

 

He didn’t ask for details, not about how Rin’s bracelet had been able to send him to the other side of the city, or why it had done so. Doppelgangers, Academia’s special interest in girls like Ruri, their and his own part in the supposed ideal of uniting all dimensions... he didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t have the time to, not then. 

 

The call didn’t cut out though. Yuto’s eyes darted uneasily toward his duel disk. Reiji was hesitating, or considering how to say what he wanted. 

 

“Go to reinforce Kurosaki where Hiiragi Yuzu is,” Reiji finally ordered without any preamble. 

 

“What?” Yuto blurted out, almost stumbling. “But Rin—!” 

 

“The Obelisk Force teams are targeting her,” Reiji acknowledged. “She’s already engaged one. However, there are others in the area that could assist her. It’s the officer you saw that concerns me. We haven’t been able to find any trace of them.” 

 

“You think the officer went after Yuzu instead,” Yuto said, his frown deepening. 

 

It was difficult to compare an ‘officer’ and an Obelisk Force squad. The Obelisk Force specialized in a particular kind of battle royal or tag duel, using the same deck and the same tactics to corner and wear down opponents. But ‘officers’ were elite soldiers with enough strength that even Academia allowed them free reign, in their decks, their uniforms, and even their methods. 

 

Hiiragi Yuzu. Yuto hadn’t met her, although he had been shown a photograph. She resembled Ruri even more than Rin, and she was by all accounts an ordinary girl who dueled just to bring joy to people. 

 

‘But Shun is with her,’ Yuto thought. He knew his friend well enough to be sure — Shun wouldn’t let any harm come to her and he wouldn’t let her out of his sight. And unlike Yuto, there was no chance of something else interfering. 

 

Rin was just as much in danger. No matter how good she was, taking on a full Obelisk squad alone was too much for anyone on their first real battle. ‘Stick close and duel well,’ she’d said, and instead...

 

“...No,” Yuto said quietly. “I refuse. I believe in Shun’s skills. I’m going back to where Rin is.” 

 

Reiji was silent for a moment. “Very well,” he acknowledge, and cut the call. 

 

Letting out a shaky breath, Yuto tried to pick up his already quick pace. Shun would be alright, he told himself. He had to be. No matter who this elite was, or what deck they used, against just one enemy, Shun wouldn’t lose. 

 

‘...Please. Please be alright.’ 

 

~.~.~

 

Peering over the edge of the building, disguised as a red-hot rock plateau, Dennis gestured to equally hologram-covered street below. “Hiiragi Yuzu is right over there,” he said. “I’ll leave the rest to you.”

 

Yuri nodded sharply, already scanning the surroundings more closely. Where would it be easiest to ambush her? Unfortunately, the girl was using the wider roads to get around, so she was likely to notice his approach no matter what. 

 

Would it make a difference? She was just a civilian... 

 

No, the Professor had been right. It was best not to take chances. He would succeed here — and proceed to his real objective. 

 

“My goodness,” Dennis murmured, watching him with the kind of attention to detail that made him such a successful infiltrator, “you’re really worked up about this, aren’t you? I heard about Synchro.” 

 

Dennis always heard everything. It was usually something Yuri found amusing, an easy way to hear the latest rumors. But in this case, it was just annoying, and he shot his supposed ally a narrow-eyed, dangerous look. Smiling like always, Dennis held up his hands in a gesture of peace. 

 

“I doubt Yuzu will give you any trouble. She’s just a normal girl. Good duelist, but nothing special,” he said. “But Rin... now, she’s proving to be a problem. Seems one of the teams after her’s already been sent back.” 

 

“Oh?” Yuri drew out, raising his eyebrows. Now that was the kind of gossip he liked to hear. “Well then, I better hurry and finish here, so I can help them out. We’re all Academia comrades, after all.” 

 

Dennis chuckled and bowed grandly. “Then, I will be watching with anticipation. Please start the show!”

 

And Yuri intended to do so — just as dramatically as Dennis would like. Hiiragi Yuzu, unsuspecting, was almost directly below them. So, taking a running leap, Yuri jumped straight from the rooftop toward where she walked. 

 

Her senses and reflexes were good for a civilian. Her head snapped up, her eyes widening as she caught sight of him, plummeting toward her. She jumped back deftly, though he wouldn’t have landed directly on top of her to begin with, and raised her duel disk — taking him for another challenger in their little game. 

 

Or rather, she started to raise it, only to freeze in surprise as she finally got a good look at his face. 

 

“Yuya...?” she murmured in confusion. 

 

This was it. The only opening he needed. 

 

Yuri darted forward, closing the distance between them. For a civilian girl, one hit would be enough to knock her out. Fast and clean, just like the Professor wanted. 

 

Not that Yuri had any concerns about dueling her. It had worked well enough on the Xyz girl, hadn’t it? But in Synchro... Whatever it was that little witch had done, Starve Venom had roared, thrashing in his deck. Duel Monsters had something to do with it, and Yuri wasn’t going to give this one a chance to pull anything like it. 

 

Unfortunately, it wasn’t up to him. 

 

The Standard girl yelped in surprise, stumbling back — and she had time to do that because someone had gotten in the way. With impressive speed, a dark figure jumped between them and grabbed the arm Yuri had swung at the girl. As Yuri slid free and backed away to put some distance between them, he took quick stock of the interloper. 

 

A teenager a few years older than him, in a ragged dark trenchcoat. The red cloth at his throat was a giveaway, and so was the design of the duel disk on his arm. 

 

“Xyz,” Yuri muttered, his eyes narrowing. Damn Dennis, how did he manage to miss this? Both the presence of an Xyz refugee and also that someone else was tailing the target. No, it was even more than that. Looking at him closely, Yuri recognized this particular Rebellion weakling — wasn’t he the Xyz girl’s brother? Dennis had pointed him out when Yuri had come for Kurosaki Ruri. 

 

Lifting his duel disk up and activating it, Kurosaki glared hotly at Yuri. And... something else. Something flashed across Kurosaki’s expression that Yuri couldn’t read before it was gone. 

 

“W-what’s going on...?” Taking another shaky step back, Hiiragi Yuzu glanced between them with an uneasy, confused expression. “You’re not Yuya. Are you... from another dimension?” 

 

“Bull’s eye!” Yuri said cheerfully. “I’m Yuri. Say, how would you like to go to another dimension with me? Doesn’t that sounds exciting?”

 

Yuzu frowned, her brows drawing together. She looked conflicted, but also wisely wary of him. 

 

“Hurry up and run! Get out of here!” Kurosaki barked to her, not taking his eyes off Yuri. 

 

Startled, the girl glared at his back. “I’m not leaving! And who are you anyway?” she demanded. 

 

“He’s just a loser, who’s butting in where he’s not wanted,” Yuri said lightly. “I’ll take care of him nice and fast — just like we did with all his friends. The Professor only needs you.” Even knowing it might interfere with his mission, he couldn’t resist baiting both of them. If she hadn’t run yet, she wouldn’t, he reasoned. 

 

And he was right. Yuzu only turned her glare on him, raising her own duel disk. 

 

Kurosaki growled at him, backing away and pushing the girl back with him. She elbowed him unhappily, but it wasn’t enough to make him even flinch. “You don’t stand a chance against him!” he snapped. “Just go!” 

 

“Oh, please don’t. It’d be a shame if one of the others got credit for tracking you down,” Yuri said. “I worked very hard to get to you first.” 

 

Too easy. The internal battle was all too clear across Kurosaki’s face. Even if Yuri might be lying — and he was — could he really take that chance? Was it safer to keep the girl with him and depend on his own skill to protect her, or tell her to run, in case he loses? 

 

Yuri was about to dangle the final red flag — Running off alone didn’t work out too well for your sister, did it? — when Kurosaki had already made his choice. 

 

“Duel!” he declared, and Yuri responded in kind. 

 

It was too bad. According to Dennis, Kurosaki was one of the strongest among the Resistance. Another time, Yuri would have taken his time drawing out all the amusement breaking someone like that could afford. 

 

But this time, he was in a rush. This would be over soon. 

 

~.~.~

 

She should have joined the duel from the start. Yuzu knew that, but she had been too shocked and shaken to react in time. A myriad questions had swirled in her mind, and she had found herself completely paralyzed, unable to make a decision. Run? Stay? Watch? Duel? In the end, Yuzu had done nothing at all. 

 

And then it was too late.

 

If it had taken just a little longer, if she and the strange man who tried to help her — so she thought was his intention, at least — had been able to see it coming, she would have stepped in to fight too, intrusion penalty or not. But it happened in an instance. 

 

“Starving Venom, finish him!” the boy with Yuya’s face ordered, baring his teeth in something that couldn’t be called a smile. 

 

The damage was real. It was different from an Action Duel, where the attacks had force, yes, but only enough to warn and push you around. Action Duels were dulled and made safe. This was... this was... Live combat. 

 

Taking a blast that cut down more than half his life points, all the way to zero, Yuri’s opponent was sent flying. He plowed into the ground with a painful crack and tumbled several more feet before coming to a stop just short of the lava flow hologram. Yuri clicked his tongue in disappointment, shrugging, as if he had been looking forward to seeing him burn. 

 

“Disappointing, Kurosaki,” he called out. “I expected a little more fight from the Resistance’s best. But now you can join all your friends. Isn’t that nice?” 

 

Yuzu didn’t know what he intended to do when he lifted his duel disk again and tapped out a command. But the sheer malice and anticipation in his entire bearing... 

 

“Stop it!” she yelled, lunging to shield Kurosaki. 

 

Yuri quickly pulled his hand back — he needed her at least mostly unharmed, as Yuzu had guessed. But what now? She darted a glance behind her, at Kurosaki. He was barely able to push himself up on all fours, his body shaking with the strain. He was in no condition to run, and Yuzu couldn’t carry him. Nor could she leave him to whatever Yuri intended. 

 

There was only one thing to do. “D, duel!” Yuzu declared, raising her duel disk. 

 

“No!” Kurosaki gritted out, trying to reach for her, only to overbalance and crash back into the dirt. “Just... run...” 

 

She wanted to. Yuzu bit her lip, trying to stop her legs from shaking. Was there anything in her deck that was good enough to stop that monstrous dragon? Did she even have a chance? The fear was almost paralyzing. 

 

But more than the dragon or the brutal tactics she’d just witnessed, what terrified Yuzu was something more instinctual. To have Yuya’s face leer at her like that... No, that wasn’t it. It wasn’t just because he had Yuya’s face. Regardless of his appearance, there was something ‘wrong’ about the boy in front of her. 

 

“Duel,” Yuri agreed, smiling coldly. “I’ll go first.” 

 

Yuzu let him. His dragon’s special ability only activated when it was Fusion summoned to the field in the first place. So if he called it out before she had monsters, at least she could avoid that. 

 

The specific combination of cards he used was different, but the result was the same as the duel she had just seen — before his first turn was through, Yuri had two monsters on the field and Polymerization in his hand. 

 

“I fuse Darlingtonia Cobra and Ophrys Scorpio! Come forth, Starving Venom Fusion Dragon!” he declared, clapping his hands together. 

 

Yuzu could feel the power behind his summoning. It was completely different from the LDS Fusion course student she had dueled earlier that day. It was even different from Sora, who never even needed to show his full potential to remain head and shoulders above most duelists she’d met. The twisted, dark dragon loomed over the field, roaring. 

 

“I set a card and end my turn,” Yuri said. His smile widened, even as his eyes narrowed dangerously. “Hurry up and take yours. Quickly, quickly!” 

 

“What’s the rush?” Yuzu snapped. She forced a tight smile of her own, modulating her tone into something more laidback. “That’s rude, you know. I’m not an interesting enough opponent for you? That’s the worst kind of insult to an entertainment duelist.” 

 

This wasn’t entertainment at all, and she didn’t want to bring him joy or smiles. But if she could keep him talking, maybe... maybe something would change. She didn’t want to endanger anyone else, but she wouldn’t say no to help. 

 

“I guess I’ll have to show you how exciting a You Show duel can be!” she declared, gesturing grandly. “First, since you control a monster and I don’t, I can special summon Solo the Melodious Songstress from my hand. Next, I’ll use the effect of Canon the Melodious Diva to give her a partner — if I control a Melodious monster, I can special summon this card as well!” 

 

Her beautiful songstresses appeared, spinning together in an elegant dance. They were only holograms, so it was natural that they could show no fear in the face of their terrifying opponent, but it calmed Yuzu to have them there with her all the same. If they could face that dragon, then so could she. Her smile eased, becoming a little more natural, though still sharp rather than joyful. 

 

“Now, sing a beautiful duet! I build the overlay network to Xyz summon — rank 4, Haydna the Melodious Maestra!” she called out. With a deeper, stronger song, the Xyz monster rose out of the spinning galaxy at her feet and spread its arms in greeting. “I can detach one overlay unit to target a card in either of our graveyards, banish it and add 200 attack points to Haydn! I detach both overlay units to banish Darlingtonia Cobra and Ophrys Scorpio!” 

 

That raised Haydna’s attack points from 2400 to 2800, same as Starving Venom. 

 

“And finally, it’s time to welcome the choir! I normal summon Aria the Melodious Diva, and then tribute her to summon Elegy the Melodious Diva! As long as this card is on the field, Melodious monsters cannot be destroyed by card effects!” 

 

The preparations were complete. With this, Starving Venom’s last effect wouldn’t work either — it wouldn’t be able to destroy her monsters with its own destruction, or deal her their attack points as damage. 

 

“Haydn, attack! Symphony squall!” Yuzu ordered, her heart pounding in tension and anticipation. 

 

Her monster sang a piercing note, swirling her conductor’s baton to generate a spiral blast that rushed toward Starving Venom. 

 

“Trap card open,” Yuri countered calmly. “I activate Predator Germination. Starving Venom is not destroyed, and I summon three Predator Tokens in defense mode.” He raised his eyebrows, tilting his head mockingly. “Too bad. You were so careful. ...You’re quite scared, aren’t you?” 

 

He was right. Her lips thinning, Yuzu glanced down at one of the cards still in her hand — Score the Melodious Diva, whose effect she could have used to reduce Starving Venom’s attack points to 0 during damage calculation. So that even if it wasn’t destroyed, he would have taken the full 2800 points of damage. But she’d hesitated, afraid of what would happen on his turn. 

 

“I attack one of the tokens with Elegy. Then, I set a card face down,” Yuzu said, looking away, “and end my turn.” 

 

She glanced at Starving Venom and began to edge away. Yuri only watched with amusement, his eyes darting to Kurosaki — assuming she was trying to move so he wouldn’t be behind her when she took damage. Well, he wasn’t wrong. 

 

He wasn’t entirely right either. 

 

“To be honest, you’re quite a disappointment,” Yuri said bluntly. Even knowing he was purposefully baiting her, Yuzu couldn’t help grinding her teeth in anger. “Let’s put an end to this little skit quickly. I play Fusion Recovery. I can’t recover any fusion materials, since you banished them, but I can still take back a Polymerization card from my graveyard.” 

 

The card in question was extended from his duel disk, and Yuri flipped it around to show it to her before inserting it back in. 

 

“I fuse Predaplant Lilyzard and one Predator Token! Fusion Summon, Predaplant Chimerafflesia!” he said. “With Chimerafflesia’s effect, I can target Elegy and banish it. So much for that, hm? Starving Venom, attack Haydna!” 

 

Yuzu took off running — not to flee, but toward the Action Card she’d spotted wedged between two boulders. It was her only chance. Her hesitation before had backfired. If she used Sonata’s effect now, Yuri would use Starving Venom’s subsequent destruction to deal her Haydna’s 2800 attack points as damage and follow it up with a direct attack from Chimerafflesia’s 2500. And Sonata’s effect couldn’t be used outside a Melodious monster’s battle. 

 

She snatched up the card just before the two monsters collided. Her eyes widened in shock. 

 

Yuzu closed her eyes in resignation as both her songstress and Yuri’s dragon shattered. “Chimerafflessia, attack her directly,” Yuri commanded. 

 

“Guh!” Yuzu covered her head as the monster’s vines lashed out. It hurt, far more than an Action Duel should. Her life points dropped to 1500, just like that. “I, I play Action Card: Damage Draw,” she said. “When I take 2000 or more battle damage, I can draw 2 cards.”

 

“So that’s an Action Card...” Yuri murmured thoughtfully. “It didn’t help you much, did it? I set one card face down and end my turn.” 

 

He tapped his foot impatiently, as Yuzu forced herself to her feet. “I draw!” she declared. 

 

Her expression hardened as she saw what her deck had given her. She still had a chance. It was like her cards were telling her not to give up yet. 

 

“I summon Serenade the Melodious Diva and tribute it. When tributing to summon a Fairy type, it counts as two — enough to bring out Mozarta the Melodious Maestra!” Yuzu said. “Now, attack Chimerafflesia!” 

 

Mozarta’s 2600 attack points seemed to put her over the Predaplant Fusion, but Yuzu knew what was coming. “I activate Chimerafflesia’s effect. When an attack is declared involving this card, your monster loses 1000 attack, and Chimerafflesia gains 1000,” Yuri said, in a dull, bored tone. He didn’t even glance at the monsters, waiting for Yuzu’s counter. 

 

She smiled grimly. “I use Score the Melodious Diva. When a Melodious battles, I can send this card to the graveyard to change your monster's attack and defence to 0 until the end of this turn.” 

 

Mozarta’s attack points might have dropped to 1600, but this would make Yuri take all of it as damage. 

 

“That’s not all! I activate my face down card,” Yuzu went on, “Melodious Illusion! Now, Mozarta can’t be unaffected by spells or traps, and it can make a second attack! Mozarta! Destroy Chimerafflesia and the remaining Predator Token!” 

 

Yuri sighed, looking a bit put out, as he raised his arms and crossed them in front of himself. The token’s destruction did nothing except clear his field, but the backlash of Chimerafflesia’s defeat blew him off his feet. He flipped gracefully in the air, landing atop boulder. Despite dropping to 2400 life points, he appeared entirely unconcerned as he straightened. 

 

Still, Yuzu smirked. “How’s that? I end my turn, and Mozarta’s attack points return to 2600.” 

 

“Don’t get carried away,” Yuri said, looking down on her. “Here, if you like them so much, why don’t you have a taste yourself? Action Card, right?” He held up his arm, and indeed, there was was Action Card between his fingers. He must have picked it up after being flung away — no, he must have allowed himself to be sent flying just to pick it up. 

 

The card was Fire Gem — Inflict 600 damage to your opponent.

 

Yuzu winced as the flames hit her. Only 900 life points left. 

 

“By Chimerafflesia’s effect, I can add a Polymerization or Fusion spell card from my deck to my hand,” Yuri continued. “I choose Re-Fusion. And I play it to return Starving Venom Fusion Dragon to the field, at the cost of 800 life points. Then, I activate my face down trap, Predaplant Reborn, to summon Lilyzard from the graveyard. By its effect, I draw a card.” 

 

Pausing, Yuri gave her a look of dulled annoyance. 

 

“You certainly dragged this out,” he said in a way that seemed to imply it was meant to be praise. “But you know where this is going, right?” 

 

She did. Starving Venom would destroy Mozarta, dealing her 200 points of damage, and then Lilyzard would attack directly, finishing her off. There was nothing in her hand that she could use, and her field was empty aside from Mozarta. 

 

“Starving Venom, attack Mozarta!” 

 

Her eyes met Yuri’s as he called out the attack. He knew what she was thinking, that she had only one hope. 

 

They took off at the same time, both sprinting for an Action Card. 

 

“Action Card: Evasion!” Yuzu cried out, grabbing it first — but only just. 

 

“Action Card: No Action,” Yuri countered, and the Evasion card shattered in her hand. 

 

Even as she glanced around frantically, Yuzu knew there was no time to grab another. She wouldn’t make it — she couldn’t even see it! Was this really it? 

 

“Yuzu!” 

 

Her head snapped toward the sound of her name being called, and her hand snapped up to catch the card that flew toward her. “Action Card: Miracle! I negate Mozarta’s destruction and halve the battle damage!” she played it instinctively. 

 

The halved damage washed over her, but Yuzu was smiling. It really was a miracle. 

 

“Yuya...” she murmured, as her friend made his way onto the battlefield. 

 

Yuya’s eyes flickered between her, Kurosaki’s slumped form nearby, and his doppelganger, watching them with a narrowed stare. The same realization dawned on him — a him from another dimension, like Rin’s Yugo. A him that was dangerous, that had left Yuzu frightened behind her trembling smile and a stranger too injured to even stand. 

 

Something in his chest twisted and burned as the dragon across the field lifted its head and growled. 

 

Without conscious thought, Yuya raised his arm, his duel disk already glowing. Static fizzed across the screen for a moment. “Intrusion penalty,” it announced in a robotic tone, “Mode: Battle Royal.” 

 

Something burned in his chest, something stronger than his heart pounding from within. It grew louder and louder as his double slowly turned toward him, until his body shuddered with every beat. His lungs seized when their eyes met. The glowing stare pierced through him, into that nameless something. 

 

The dragon roared, making his mind go blank. In his hand, Odd Eyes’s card pulsed, and he could hear its voice as well. Was it challenging? Raging? Or was it suddenly terrified, like he was? 

 

“Yuya! Are you okay?” Yuzu’s voice pulled him back from the void he had begun to plummet into. 

 

“Y-yeah,” Yuya muttered — lied. “I’m good. I’m ready.” 

 

He wasn’t. But it was too late to run. 

 

~.~.~

 

No matter how much he tried to pretend he was in control, Reiji was more aware than anyone how much he didn’t know. 

 

What was the true nature of the counterparts? What set them apart and made them so important to his father’s plans? What were those bracelets? Why did they react that way to the boys coming into proximity? Why were the girls being targeted, but not the boys, when both were tied to Revival Zero? 

 

The number of things Reiji didn’t know far outweighed the small, sparse collection of answers he and his mother had managed to gather in the years since they had begun their search. Reiji had known that and accepted it — that they would be fighting blind and have to adapt on the fly. There would be mistakes and missteps, and sometimes he would be wrong. 

 

He knew that, but... The self-recrimination pounded steadily at the back of his mind. 

 

He should have tested it, taken every step to learn more. Brought the four of them together and checked whether some reaction would occur. Just because Rin and Hiiragi Yuzu had no reaction to each other, he had assumed the counterparts were all outwardly normal children, just pieces with no outstanding abilities regardless of their part in the Arc Area Project. 

 

If he had just brought them together, he would have known that the bracelets would separate the boys. He would have even been able to confirm the strange reaction that was making Yuya sway slightly on his feet, clutching at his chest, as he stared up at his doppelganger’s dragon. 

 

Since Yuzu had kept to the open areas, including when she was ambushed, they could at least observe the duel. But the video flickered unsteadily, and the readings returned by the other sensors were a chaotic mess. 

 

“The interference program is holding within acceptable variation,” one of the operators down on the control room floor reported, as Reiji had requested. 

 

‘The  _ estimated  _ acceptable variation,’ he thought sourly. Given that the program that ran interference against the wavelength they assumed the bracelets operated on was something they had cobbled together in rush after Yuto was teleported away without warning, there was no real telling what its limits were and when it would break down. 

 

“Continue to monitor its status,” Reiji ordered. “And be ready to send an urgent shutdown command.” 

 

They had silently pushed the interference program to Yuya’s duel disk, to avoid any other uncontrollable accidents from occurring. But in the worst case scenario, if Yuya lost the duel, Reiji was willing to gamble on shutting it down and having one of them be sent away. He only wished he knew which it would be. How did the bracelet select? Proximity? Which one was native to this dimension? Or some other criteria? 

 

Unfortunately, that worst case scenario appeared all too likely. 

 

The Fusion counterpart — Yuri — had already proven strong enough to turn the tables on Kurosaki, and he had all but defeated Yuzu by the time Yuya arrived. But something had come over him then. His cruel but disinterested personality seemed to have been wiped away by some wild rage. 

 

The energy readings were off the charts across the board, half the screens showing pure white or flat lines at the limit of measurement. Reiji didn’t know anything that could compare to it, not the spikes that dimensional travel had created, not the summoning energy readings from the most intense duels on record. It was like the world itself was shaking every time Yuri made a move. 

 

He had crushed what remained of Yuzu’s life points in short order, although he had seemed to lose any interest in her presence. Once she was out of the duel, he had ignored her completely, leaving her to crouch tensely next to Kurosaki, both unable to help but also unwilling to just run as Yuri continued his relentless assault against Yuya. 

 

And relentless it was, ripping through every measure and combo Yuya made. Even destroying his dragon hadn’t been enough to make him do more than stumble. 

 

“I summon — Predaplant Chlamydosundew!” Yuri bit out, every word like a gong being struck. 

 

A hologram of the monster appeared as he slammed its card onto the Solid Vision monster zone. Reiji bit off a curse as the effects displayed, pulled up by the LDS server, but Yuri appeared too far gone to state them properly. His arm snapped out, pointing across the field.

 

“Your Brave Eyes Pendulum Dragon is mine!” he shouted — because a Predator Counter had been placed on it, it fell under Chlamydosundew’s effect, allowing it to be used as fusion material. “Fuse into one with Chlamydosundew and bring forth a new hungering nightmare—” 

 

Yuya flinched as if physically struck. Brave Eyes thrashed and screeched furiously as it was dragged into the spiral of Fusion. Its and Yuya’s pained cries mixed into one, blurred by static. Reiji didn’t believe in duel monster spirits or souls, but... 

 

Something was going on, something more, and he had no idea what it was. He was completely in the dark. 

 

Brave Eyes shattered, along with Chlamydosundew, and several of the screens in the control room simply blanked, completely shorting out. The remaining cameras shook, the images blurring as if buffeted by gale winds. 

 

“—Greedy Venom Fusion Dragon!” 

 

Yuri’s voice rang out, barely intelligible over the cacophony. The dueling system stuttered for a second, unable to process it — just long enough for Reiji to hope it would crash like it had with the incomplete Pendulum cards. But in the next instance, the error resolved and confirmation of the summoning and type displayed on the monitor — Fusion. 

 

A dark shape began to rise, wings and spines unfurling between glowing spheres. Its growl reverberated down to the bones. 

 

A 3300 attack monstrosity capable of reducing its opponents to zero and negating effects. Even without checking, Reiji knew Yuya had nothing in his hand or on his field that could stand up to it. He had dropped to his knees, trembling and too weakened by the unknown reaction to even try to reach an Action Card. 

 

It was as good as over. 

 

“Cut the interference program! Shut it down now!” Reiji snapped. 

 

The operator charged with it jumped, her head snapping back to her own monitor and her hands flying over the holographic keyboard. “The... the network is too unstable!” she blurted out, still typing frantically. “I can’t confirm if the shutdown command is getting through!” 

 

“Attack!” Yuri shouted, on the shaking video feed. “Destroy everything! Burn it all to ash” 

 

“YUYA!!” Yuzu’s scream mixed with Kurosaki’s furious, indistinct yell.  

 

The video whited out. But in the same moment, the scrambled wavelength pattern of her bracelet spiked, just like it had with Rin. 

 

A tense, brittle silence gripped the control room as they waited, blinded, for the cameras and sensors to return online. Slowly, the monitors blinked back on, one by one. 

 

“—ya! Yuya?!” 

 

The audio cut back in to Yuzu’s frantic voice. She was on her feet, but she was the only one. Kurosaki was propped against a boulder nearby, still unable to stand, but of the other two, there was no sign. 

 

“Yuya, where are you?” Yuzu called out again, turning slowly in the place where the battle had been. She paused, something catching her attention, and kneeled gingerly — her own injuries must have been aching. Reaching down, she picked up something and cradled it in her hands. A faint tremble ran through her body. 

 

It was a duel disk, of Standard make. The deck was still set inside it, and two cards had dropped to the ground next to it. 

 

Timegazer Magician and Stargazer Magician, the two Pendulum Scales that had been set on Yuya’s field. 

 

Yuya’s duel disk, Yuya’s cards. But Yuya was gone. 

 

~.~.~


	21. 1:3 The words to say

**Notes:** This is it, the end of Season 1! christ... It wasn’t intentional, but Ute is really ending up totally Useless. 

 

Also, I wrote the entire mess of Season 1 through Nanowrimo.  57,500 words total, finishing precisely on Nov 30. It’s been a wild ride, guys. 

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 21: The words to say**

 

It took Rin a moment to react when the siren signaling the end of the championship battle royal blared across the city. Blinking as she came out of her daze, she took a deep breath and glanced around the small plaza their group had settled in. 

 

Sawatari had jumped to his feet right away, eager to do something, even if he didn’t know what. But the other two had barely moved. Tsukikage had only lifted up his duel disk, checking for any new orders, while Yuto raised his head, watching Rin. She met his gaze and nodded slightly, acknowledging his unspoken concern. 

 

She was fine, just tired. She wasn’t the one who had gotten turned into a card, or lost someone she close to her, after all. 

 

It had just shaken her. Knowing that there was a war going on out there, knowing that it could break over them at any moment, knowing that they would be fighting with their lives on the line — it wasn’t the same as seeing it and experiencing it first hand. The weight of dueling Academia forces was greater than Rin could have imagined. 

 

She could see the same jittery new understanding in Sawatari too, who hadn’t even known about the dimensional conflict before forcing his way into her duel. 

 

At least they had made it in time to save Tsukikage from the second Obelisk Force squad, which was more than they could say for his brother. And there was no telling how many championship participants both squads had carded before being defeated and automatically teleported back to Fusion dimension. 

 

It had to be bad, given the distracted near silence from LDS and Reiji. The only directive they had received was to wait out what remained of the championship timelimit. 

 

“This better not hurt my rankings!” Sawatari blurted out. “I could’ve taken two, no, three more opponents while we were sitting around!” 

 

Rin stared at him flatly. Even realizing he was covering up his own fears with bluster, she still could barely believe he cared about the tournament, of all things. “Anyone who still has at least one Pendulumstatue card at the end of the time limit, after participating in at least two duels, wins the championship,” she said dully. “So we both pass.” 

 

“Where’s your duelist spirit? I won’t accept that kind of half-hearted nonsense from my nemesis!” Sawatari shot back, jabbing his finger at her. “What’s the point if you don’t have the most cards? The most wins? Urgh, I’m going to be in the bottom half, I just know it. I can’t believe this... the great New Neo Sawatari’s debut...”

 

He trailed off into unintelligible muttering under his breath. He probably just wanted to hear himself talk. rather than the oppressive silence. 

 

“Sir Sawatari, Miss Rin,” Tsukikage spoke up, his quiet voice still carrying, “please return to the drop off point. You will be transported to the stadium from there, for the closing ceremony.” 

 

Rin nodded. That had been in the instructions they received at the start of the battle royal. 

 

“Sir Knight,” he turned to Yuto, “let us return to LDS as well. But we must still take care to avoid making the participants aware of our presence. We need to... report in to the master.” He reached back to touch his deck pouch — or rather, Hikage’s card, which he had slipped into it. 

 

Rising soundlessly, Yuto glanced at Rin again and looked away quickly. His perpetually furrowed expression darkened with something she couldn’t read, but the two of them vanished into the shadows before she could say anything. 

 

“Hmph, it’s not like Fake Sakaki even did anything,” Sawatari grumbled under his breath. “What a useless guy...” 

 

Rin elbowed him in the stomach. Just a little. A love tap, really, and if Sawatari groaned and doubled over, it was just because he was a melodramatic pansy. And if nothing else, watching him flail and hiss at her like a prissy cat made the corner of Rin’s lips twitch up in a faint smile. 

 

She had a feeling none of them would be smiling much soon. ‘Hope Yuzu and Yuya enjoyed the tournament, at least,’ she thought, sighing. Better if someone had, right? 

 

~.~.~

 

Yuzu and Yuya weren’t at the rendezvous point. The unsettled, cold feeling in Rin’s gut grew. 

 

It could have been nothing, she tried to tell herself. Those that lost all their Pendulumstatue cards had been instructed to gather at LDS immediately upon disqualification, without waiting for the time limit to run out. So it was only natural that the group Rin and Sawatari found at the pickup point was much smaller than the original roster. It was only natural for people to be missing. 

 

...But Rin couldn’t imagine that they had both been defeated. They were both so strong, especially among Standard’s duelists. 

 

Sawatari shot her a burning, demanding look, having nothing the same thing and apparently assuming she was hiding the answer. It wasn’t just them either. Given how high profile Yuya had become, his absence was bound to draw attention. 

 

Rin glared at anyone who so much as looked like they were considering asking her, as the remaining You Show representative. She didn’t know — she had no idea, and she couldn’t voice for her reaction if pressed. Her fists were already clenching, itching for a fight. 

 

She sat alone on the ride back. Even the rows of seats in front of her and behind her had been left empty. The number of duelists had been cut to less than half, and everyone separated, some unspoken tension forcing them into solitary silence. 

 

The low hum of quiet voices that drifted toward them as they approached the backstage area of the stadium was a welcome relief. 

 

Rin was the first to burst into the large room, the same one from earlier that morning, and she looked around frantically. Just by a glance, she could tell that the people there were duelists who had been eliminated from the championship, including the LDS Synchro duelist, Yaiba, that she herself had knocked out of the running. 

 

The bulky form of Yuya’s friend Gongenzaka caught her eye. He shifted, and she could see a second figure that had been hidden from sight behind him. 

 

Yuzu. 

 

She looked terrible, her expression pale and drawn, eyes downcast and shoulders hunched. It wasn’t the look of just defeat. It was... 

 

“Yuzu! Yuzu!!” Rin called out, running toward her. 

 

Yuzu turned, and her expression crumbled. As Gongenzaka stepped aside to let her pass, Rin rushed up to her and pulled her into a tight embrace. Yuzu’s arms came up around her, gripping back desperately. 

 

“What happened?” Rin asked quietly, but urgently. “Did you get knocked out of the tournament? You weren’t at the rendezvous.” 

 

“Tournament...?” Yuzu repeated. “No, that’s not it. I guess I’m still... Someone got hurt, so I came back with them when help came. But..” 

 

“Yuya?” Rin guessed. 

 

“No. That... wasn’t Yuya. Yuya is...” 

 

Rin waited, but Yuzu didn’t say anything else. She had pressed her forehead against Rin’s shoulder, hiding her face. Uncertainty, Rin glanced at Gongenzaka, but he could only shake his head. He didn’t know anything more than Rin. Her chest squeezed painfully, to the point that it almost felt like she was choking. 

 

“Yuzu, what...?” Rin started to say, swallowing heavily.  

 

The speakers crackled, interrupting her before she could continue. “Attention please. The closing ceremony will begin shortly,” a voice announced over the speakers. “Participants, please prepare to enter the stadium arena...”

 

Backstage crews were already beginning to herd duelists into position, dividing them between winners to parade proudly down the center of the arena and the losers to file off to the side, unceremoniously. With a last worried glance, Gongenzaka separated from them, joining the disqualified group, while Rin gently pulled Yuzu toward the gate to the main arena entrance. 

 

Yuzu gently squeezed Rin’s hand. “After this,” she whispered. “I’ll explain after this.” 

 

Her lips pressed together tightly in concern, Rin only nodded silently. 

 

Triumphant music was growing louder outside, as the closing ceremony kicked off. The announcer’s voice was pounding through the walls and ceiling again, firing up the crowd. It was the same scene they had participated in just hours ago, earlier the same day, but the feeling couldn’t be more different. 

 

This wasn’t what Rin had hoped for. She had wanted to walk out side by side with Yuzu and Yuya, proud of the entertainment dueling they had shown to the city and the world. She had wanted them all to be smiling together. 

 

And instead... 

 

The Youth group went first, their numbers reduced to less than half a dozen. There had been fewer of them than the Junior Youth group to begin with, but they must have gone after each other with a passion for so many of them to have ended up out. 

 

Yuzu’s hand, still on Rin’s arm, held her back, and the rest of the Junior Youths passed them, some throwing them questioning or even suspicious looks. All of them walked alone, no other school aside from You Show and LDS able to claim more than one champion — and Sawatari had proudly sped ahead of Masumi, who lingered, almost glaring at the two of them. 

 

“Yuzu,” Rin prompted as the last person ahead of them stepped out into the tunnel up to the arena. 

 

Biting her lip, Yuzu nodded and forced herself to straighten. Rin gripped her hand tightly, refusing to let go. Together, they walked forward. The tunnel was dark, the noise of the stadium echoing hollowly, and seemed to stretch on further than it should have been possible. Each figure ahead of them vanished into light, which grew closer and closer until it swallowed them too. 

 

The brightness and loudness hit Rin all at once — Yuzu too, who stiffened, her steps catching before she soldiered on. Her grip on Rin’s hand was almost painfully tight. 

 

“—Hiiragi Rin and Hiiragi Yuzu of You Shoooooow!” the announcer boomed. 

 

Yuzu kept her gaze firmly fixed in front of her, not on anything in particular, but rather on some middle distance. It was a far cry from her usual practiced stage manner. Rin pulled her along to take their place at the end of the second, Junior Youth line of championship winners, in the center of the arena. 

 

In front of them was Reiji. His expression was unreadable as he looked up and down the two lines of duelists who had made it through his trial. 

 

It was only natural that he would want to see them firsthand, given his intentions and plans. But it was a struggle not to glare at him. Clenching her jaw, Rin glared past him. 

 

The cheering was deafening, had been since they stepped out, and the crowd’s adoration wasn’t letting up. It would have been intoxicating and dizzying, Rin thought, in another situation — and indeed, some of the group were beaming, enjoying with every fiber of their being. Sawatari, Dennis, the cooking school’s ace, the stocky guy next to him, even the knight cosplayer unbending enough to smirk and wave. 

 

They couldn’t feel or purposefully ignored the heavy, eerie sense of wrongness that pervaded the group. 

 

Finally, Reiji raised his hand, and the crowd obediently began to quiet. The massive Solid Vision screens over the arena changed to all display his face. 

 

“The Leo Corporation’s Maiami Championship has come to an end,” he declared. “Among the participants, these are the duelists who have survived.” 

 

Rin flinched at that — and so did Yuzu. A cheer went through the crowd, unaware how literally he meant those words. 

 

“Utilizing the new power of Pendulum and all their skills, they have proven themselves the strongest in the world!” Reiji went on, his voice booming across the silent, riveted stadium. “They are the ones who hold the potential to become even greater — to become heroes!” 

 

The greatest in Standard, the ones with the potential to become heroes who would defend it from Fusion and the dimensional conflict. That was what Reiji, LDS and the Leo Corporation had been after from the start. 

 

He wasn’t wrong. Rin would have never expected it, but hadn’t Sawatari thrown himself into battle to help her? And even Rin explained the danger, even when he saw Tsukikage’s brother get carded with his own eyes, Sawatari hadn’t run or collapsed from fear. The others standing with them now had the same potential. 

 

But thinking of it like that, Rin didn’t really belong among them, did she? Pressed in at the very end, she was just sharing Yuzu’s space. 

 

...Or had she taken someone else’s place? Was someone else supposed to be standing there instead, in a world where Clear Wing didn’t bring her to Standard? One of the ‘losers’ gathered a distance away, clapping politely? Or perhaps, one of those who wasn’t there at all... 

 

The crowd had erupted in cheers again, and Reiji let it continue surprisingly long before he finally held up his hand again. 

 

His voice was lower, no longer playing up the audience’s excitement, and colder when he continued, “And the opportunity for them to reach that potential will come soon. And they alone will learn the hidden truth of dueling and the world.” 

 

A uncertain murmur ran through the stands at his perplexing, ominous words. But as he turned away sharply and began to walk away, their excitement seemed to return. It sounded like something amazing, didn’t it? Rin thought someone in the two lines of duelists might have tried to raise an objection, but their voice was drowned out by the rising cheers. 

 

It made Rin sick to her stomach. The truth was nothing glorious. 

 

In truth, they were already at war. 

 

~.~.~


End file.
